Arbeitsrat für Kunst
Encyclopedia
The Arbeitsrat für Kunst (German
: 'Workers council for art' or 'Art Soviet') was a union of architects, painters, sculptors and art writers, who were based in Berlin from 1918 to 1921. It developed as a response to the Workers and Soldiers councils and was dedicated to the goal of bringing the current developments and tendencies in architecture and art to a broader population.
The Arbeitsrat worked closely with the Novembergruppe and the Deutscher Werkbund
. Some of the architects represented in the Arbeitsrat united in the Glass Chain
, or joined the correspondence group, Der Ring
. Many members were important founders of the Bauhaus
. Individual members informed the most important German academy of art of the time, the Staatliche Akademie für Kunst und Kunstgewerbe Breslau, as well as the Bauhaus.
The Arbeitsrat reacted to the unpalatable situation concerning orders for young architects, who were lost in the First world war
.
, Walter Gropius
acting from 1919, César Klein
, and Adolf Behne
as Chairman.
The signatories of the first manifesto were - besides Taut, Gropius, Klein and Behne:
Over 100 artists and architects from Germany and abroad, supported the group and were participants in its exhibitions. Some of these were:
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
: 'Workers council for art' or 'Art Soviet') was a union of architects, painters, sculptors and art writers, who were based in Berlin from 1918 to 1921. It developed as a response to the Workers and Soldiers councils and was dedicated to the goal of bringing the current developments and tendencies in architecture and art to a broader population.
The Arbeitsrat worked closely with the Novembergruppe and the Deutscher Werkbund
Deutscher Werkbund
The Deutscher Werkbund was a German association of artists, architects, designers, and industrialists. The Werkbund was to become an important event in the development of modern architecture and industrial design, particularly in the later creation of the Bauhaus school of design...
. Some of the architects represented in the Arbeitsrat united in the Glass Chain
Glass Chain
The Glass Chain or Crystal Chain sometimes known as the "Utopian Correspondence" was a chain letter that took place between November 1919 and December 1920. It was a correspondence of architects that formed a basis of expressionist architecture in Germany. It was initiated by Bruno Taut.-Names,...
, or joined the correspondence group, Der Ring
Der Ring
Der Ring was an architectural collective founded in 1926 in Berlin. It emerged out of expressionist architecture with a functionalist agenda. Der Ring was a group of young architects, formed with the objective of promoting Modernist architecture. It took a position against the prevailing...
. Many members were important founders of the Bauhaus
Bauhaus
', commonly known simply as Bauhaus, was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. At that time the German term stood for "School of Building".The Bauhaus school was founded by...
. Individual members informed the most important German academy of art of the time, the Staatliche Akademie für Kunst und Kunstgewerbe Breslau, as well as the Bauhaus.
Aims
Their demands were: the acknowledgment of all tasks of building as public and not private tasks, the abolition of all official privileges, the establishment of community centers as places to exchange art and ideas, the dissolution of the Academy of the arts and the Prussian national art commission, the release of architectural, plastics, painting and handicraft commissions from national patronage, the promotion of museums as education places, the removal of artistically worthless monuments and the formation of a state body to oversee and promote education in the arts.The Arbeitsrat reacted to the unpalatable situation concerning orders for young architects, who were lost in the First world war
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
Members
The founding members were Bruno TautBruno Taut
Bruno Julius Florian Taut , was a prolific German architect, urban planner and author active during the Weimar period....
, Walter Gropius
Walter Gropius
Walter Adolph Georg Gropius was a German architect and founder of the Bauhaus School who, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modern architecture....
acting from 1919, César Klein
Cesar Klein
César Klein was a German Expressionist painter and designer, probably best known as one of the founders the November Group and the Arbeitsrat für Kunst....
, and Adolf Behne
Adolf Behne
Adolf Behne was a critic, art historian, architectural writer, and artistic activist. He was one of the leaders of the Avant Garde in the Weimar Republic....
as Chairman.
The signatories of the first manifesto were - besides Taut, Gropius, Klein and Behne:
- Otto BartningOtto BartningOtto Bartning was a Modernist German architect, architectural theorist and teacher. In his early career he developed plans with Walter Gropius for the establishment of the Bauhaus. He was a member of Der Ring...
- Rudolf BellingRudolf BellingRudolf Belling was a German sculptor.-Artistic theories:At the very beginning of the 20th century Rudolf Belling’s name was something like a battlecry. The composer of the "Dreiklang" evoked frequent and hefty discussions...
- Arthur Degner
- Lyonel FeiningerLyonel FeiningerLyonel Charles Feininger was a German-American painter, and a leading exponent of Expressionism. He also worked as a caricaturist and comic strip artist.-Life and work:...
- Otto FreundlichOtto FreundlichOtto Freundlich was a German painter and sculptor of Jewish origin and one of the first generation of abstract artists.-Life:...
- Yefim GolïshevYefim GolïshevYefim Golyshev was a Ukrainian-born painter and composer who was mainly active in Europe.After a successful career as a child prodigy violinist and the Reger Prize from Berlin's Stern Conservatory, Golyshev became one of the founding members of the Dadaist November Group, painting "anti-art"...
- August Griesbach
- Hermann Hasler
- Erwin Hahs
- Erich HeckelErich HeckelErich Heckel was a German painter and printmaker, and a founding member of the Die Brücke group which existed 1905-1913.-Biography:Heckel was born in Döbeln . His parents were born in Saxony...
- Paul Rudolf Henning
- Karl Jakob Hirsch
- Walter Kaesbach
- Georg KolbeGeorg KolbeGeorg Kolbe was the leading German figure sculptor of his generation, in a vigorous, modern, simplified classical style similar to Aristide Maillol of France.Kolbe was born in Waldheim ....
- Gerhard MarcksGerhard MarcksGerhard Marcks was a German sculptor, who is also well-known for his drawings, woodcuts, lithographs and ceramics.-Background:...
- Ludwig MeidnerLudwig MeidnerLudwig Meidner was a German expressionist painter and printmaker born in Bernstadt, Silesia. He was apprenticed to a stonemason, but the apprenticeship was not completed. He studied at the Royal School of Art in Breslau and, from 1906-07 at the Julien and Cormon Academies in Paris where he met...
- Moritz Melzer
- Otto MuellerOtto MuellerOtto Mueller or Müller was a German painter and printmaker of the Die Brücke expressionist movement.-Life and work:...
- Franz Mutzenbecher
- Emil NoldeEmil NoldeEmil Nolde was a German painter and printmaker. He was one of the first Expressionists, a member of Die Brücke, and is considered to be one of the great oil painting and watercolour painters of the 20th century. He is known for his vigorous brushwork and expressive choice of colors...
- Max PechsteinMax PechsteinHermann Max Pechstein was a German expressionist painter and printmaker, and a member of Die Brücke group.-Life and career:...
- Friedrich Perzynski
- Heinrich Richter-Berlin
- Richard Scheibe
- Karl Schmidt-RottluffKarl Schmidt-RottluffKarl Schmidt-Rottluff was a German expressionist painter and printmaker, and a member of Die Brücke.-Life and work:...
- Fritz StuckenbergFritz StuckenbergFritz Stuckenberg was a German expressionist painter.He was born as Friedrich Bernhard Stuckenberg in Munich, but moved with his family in 1893 to the northern industrial city of Delmenhorst , where his father took over as director of the Hansa-Linoleumwerke...
- Georg Tappert
- Max TautMax TautMax Taut was a German architect.- Biography :Max Taut was born in Königsberg, the younger brother of Bruno Taut. He, his brother and Franz Hoffman formed Taut & Hoffman, an architecture firm in Berlin, In the 1920s, Max Taut was particularly known for his office buildings for trade unions...
- Arnold Topp
- Wilhelm Reinhold Valentiner
Over 100 artists and architects from Germany and abroad, supported the group and were participants in its exhibitions. Some of these were:
- Karl Paul Andrae
- Walter Curt BehrendtWalter Curt BehrendtWalter Curt Behrendt was a German-American architect and active advocate of German modernism. He was an authority on city planning and housing, editor of Die Form, and author of The Victory of the New Building Style among many other works.Behrendt was born in Metz, emigrated to the U.S...
- Max BergMax BergMax Berg was a German architect and urban planner.Berg was born in Stettin in Prussian Pomerania. He attended the Technical University in Charlottenburg, where he was taught by Carl Schäfer who favoured Gothic architecture...
- Paul CassirerPaul CassirerPaul Cassirer was a German art dealer and editor who played a significant role in the promotion of the work of artists of the Berlin Secession and of French Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, in particular that of Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cézanne.- Starting out :Paul Cassirer started out as...
- Nicolay Diulgheroff
- Hermann FinsterlinHermann FinsterlinHermann Finsterlin was a visionary architect, painter, poet, essayist, toymaker and composer. He played an influential role in the German expressionist architecture movement of the early 20th century but due to the harsh economic climate realised none of his projects...
- Paul GöschPaul GoschPaul Gösch , also Goesch or Göschen, was a German artist, architect, lithographer, and designer of the early twentieth century; he was associated with the main elements of German Expressionism....
- Otto Gothe
- Wenzel HablikWenzel HablikWenzel August Hablik , also known as Wenceslav Hablik and Wilhelm August Hablik, was a painter and graphic artist, architect, designer, and craftsman of the early twentieth century, associated with German Expressionism.Hablik was born in Brüx, Bohemia...
- Oswald Herzog
- Bernhard Hoetger
- Willy Jaeckel
- Käthe KollwitzKäthe KollwitzKäthe Kollwitz was a German painter, printmaker, and sculptor whose work offered an eloquent and often searing account of the human condition in the first half of the 20th century...
- Carl KraylCarl KraylCarl Christian Krayl was a German architect and artist of the early twentieth century, who was associated with several of the leading avant-garde art movements of German Expressionism....
- Mechtilde LichnowskyMechtilde LichnowskyMechtilde Lichnowsky, originally Mechtilde Christiane Marie Gräfin von und zu Arco-Zinneberg, later Mechtilde Peto was a German author, married to Karl Max, Fürst von Lichnowsky, 6th Prince and 8th Count Lichnowsky who succeeded his father in 1901, and...
- HansHans LuckhardtHans Luckhardt – October 8, 1954 in Bad Wiessee) was a German architect and the brother of Wassili Luckhardt, with whom he worked his entire life. He studied at the University of Karlsruhe with Hermann Billing and was a member of the Novembergruppe, the Arbeitsrats für Kunst, and the Glass Chain...
- Wassili LuckhardtWassili LuckhardtWassili Luckhardt was a German architect. He studied at the Technical University of Berlin and Dresden. Luckhardt and his brother Hans worked closely together for most of their lives...
- Paul Mebes
- Ludwig MeidnerLudwig MeidnerLudwig Meidner was a German expressionist painter and printmaker born in Bernstadt, Silesia. He was apprenticed to a stonemason, but the apprenticeship was not completed. He studied at the Royal School of Art in Breslau and, from 1906-07 at the Julien and Cormon Academies in Paris where he met...
- Julius Meier-GraefeJulius Meier-GraefeJulius Meier-Graefe was a German art critic and novelist. His writings on Impressionism, Post-Impressionism as well as on art of earlier and more recent generations, with his most important contributions translated into French, Russian and English, are considered to have been instrumental for the...
- Adolf MeyerAdolf Meyer (architect)Adolf Meyer was a German architect. A student and employee of Peter Behrens, Meyer became the office boss of the firm of Walter Gropius around 1915 and a full partner afterwards. In 1919 Gropius appointed Meyer as a master at the Bauhaus, where he taught work drawing and construction technique...
- Michael Mejer
- Erich MendelsohnErich MendelsohnErich Mendelsohn was a Jewish German architect, known for his expressionist architecture in the 1920s, as well as for developing a dynamic functionalism in his projects for department stores and cinemas.-Early life:...
- Johannes Molzahn
- Karl Ernst OsthausKarl Ernst OsthausKarl Ernst Osthaus was an important German patron of avant-garde art and architecture.In 1902, Osthaus founded the Folkwang Museum in Hagen, Germany...
- Hans PoelzigHans PoelzigHans Poelzig was a German architect, painter and set designer.-Life:Poelzig was born in Berlin in 1869 to the countess Clara Henrietta Maria Poelzig while she was married to George Acland Ames, an Englishman...
- Paul SchmitthennerPaul SchmitthennerPaul Schmitthenner was a German architect and city planner from Lauterbourg, Alsace-Lorraine, one of Adolf Hitler's architects. He graduated from the University of Stuttgart and later became a Professor there, where he formed together with Paul Bonatz the architectural style of the Stuttgart School...
- Herman SörgelHerman SörgelHerman Sörgel was a German architect. He was the originator of the idea of Atlantropa—a utopian continent created by damming the Strait of Gibraltar...
- Milly Steger
- Heinrich TessenowHeinrich TessenowHeinrich Tessenow was a German architect, professor, and urban planner active in the Weimar era.-Biography:...
- Wilhelm WorringerWilhelm WorringerWilhelm Worringer was a German art historian. He is known in connection with expressionism. Through his influence on T. E. Hulme his ideas had an effect on early British modernism, especially vorticism....
Actions
The Arbeitsrat recruited the public to participate in its art and architectural exhibitions and publications. Its exhibitions were open for non-architects and also for non-members of the group to take part, with designs, models, sketches and sculptures.Exhibitions
- "Ausstellung für unbekannte Architekten",(Exhibition for unknown architects ) Berlin und Weimar, 1919
- "Neues Bauen" (New building), Berlin, 1920
Publications
- Bruno Taut: Ein Architektur-Programm. (An architectural programme) Berlin 1918
- Paul Rudolf Henning: Ton. Ein Aufruf von P. R. Henning. Zweite Flugschrift des Arbeitsrats für Kunst (Clay/tone/sound. A call by P.R. Henning. Second Pamphlet of the work advice for art ). Berlin ca. 1918
- Arbeitsrat für Kunst (Hrsg.): Arbeitsrat für Kunst. Flugblatt (Arbeitsrat für Kunst. Leaflet). Envelope with woodcut by Max PechsteinMax PechsteinHermann Max Pechstein was a German expressionist painter and printmaker, and a member of Die Brücke group.-Life and career:...
, Berlin 1919 - Arbeitsrat für Kunst (Hrsg.): Ja! Stimmen des Arbeitsrates für Kunst in Berlin (Yes! Voices of the Art Societ in Berlin). Berlin 1919
- Arbeitsrat für Kunst (Hrsg.): Ruf zum Bauen: zweite Buchpublikation des Arbeiterrats für Kunst (Call for building: Second book publication of the Arbeitsrats für Kunst). Berlin 1920
- Otto Bartning: Ein Unterrichtsplan für Architektur und bildende Künste (An instruction plan for architecture and the visual arts)
External links
- Katrin Husmann: Der Arbeitsrat für Kunst
- Uwe M. Schneede: Die abgesonderte Welt. Hermann Finsterlin und die Gläserne Kette
- This page was translated from the German Wikipedia at:- :de:Arbeitsrat für Kunst.