Jugendstil

Jugendstil is the name that tookthe artistic expressions of Art Nouveau in Germany and Switzerland, from the name of a Munich magazine(Jugend, “Giovinezza”, founded in 1886) that contributed to spread the new artistic language, especially in the field of graphics and applied arts. The term was used for the first time in 1899 in the magazine “Insel”.

In Germany the artistic expressions of Art Nouveau took the name of Jugendstil from the name of a Munich magazine (Jugend, “youth”) which helped to spread the new artistic language, especially in the field of graphics and applied art. Modernism in Germany was influenced not only by the Franco-Belgian Art Nouveau, but also by the Arts and Crafts movement and the Viennese Secession, so much so that the movement in Munich, in a more specifically artistic context, was called Secession (Secession of Monaco).

The Jugendstil dissemination centers were many, in addition to Munich where Hermann Obrist and other artists were active who brought floral and phytomorphic tendencies to graphic and applied arts to the maximum extent.

The architect August Endell worked mainly in Berlin. In Darmstadt, the most important architectural achievements; in fact, in 1899 the Grand Duke Ernesto Luigi d’Assia founded a famous colony of artists calling you to work Joseph Maria Olbrich and Peter Behrens.

Heir to the Jugenstil was the Deutscher Werkbund, founded in Monaco in 1907.

Description
Often with the name Jugendstil also include the artistic expressions born in the same period in other countries of Northern Europe and in Austria; this demonstrates the intense cultural contact between Vienna and Munich.

Modernism in Germany was influenced by the Franco-Belgian Art Nouveau (Henry van de Velde was active in Germany since 1893), but also by the English Arts and Crafts movement. There was a close relationship with the Viennese Secession, which in turn took the name Secession from the movement that arose in Munich (1892) (Secession of Monaco) and later in (1893) in Berlin (Berlin Secession) which can be considered an integral part of the Jugendstil. Austrian artists and architects were active in Germany.

The Jugendstil dissemination centers were many, in addition to Munich, where Hermann Obrist, Richard Riemerschmid, Ferdinand Hodler and other artists were active who brought floral and phytomorphic tendencies to the maximum development, above all in graphics and applied arts. The architect August Endell worked mainly in Berlin. The Belgian Henry van de Velde was active in Weimar. In Karlsruhe Hermann Billing and the Swiss Karl Moser.

The most important architectural works were carried out in Darmstadt; in fact, in 1899 the Grand Duke Ernesto Luigi d’Assia founded a famous artist colony on the Mathildenhöhe, with the aim of making it a center for the diffusion of avant-garde artisanal and artistic production, calling you to work among others Bernhard Hoetger, Patriz Huber, Hans Christiansen, Peter Behrens and Joseph Maria Olbrich who built the building that housed the artistic activities and exhibitions and the famous “wedding” tower.

Heir of the Jugenstil in the field of applied arts was the Deutscher Werkbund, founded in Munich in 1907 and animated by Peter Behrens, although in Jugendstil also has its roots Expressionism.

Birth of a movement
The term Jugendstil originally refers to the Munich magazine Jugend, created in January 1896 by Georg Hirth (1865-1902), which from the very beginning welcomed artists and critics defending the new style. It is also used in the Netherlands, Scandinavia and the Baltic countries.

This modernity, which affects and transforms both architecture and the decorative arts, took off in certain German regions in the early 1890s, when an aesthetic battle was waged between conservatives, or traditionalists, and the progressives, open to new trends such as Impressionism, Symbolism, Japonism, and, paradoxically, to the ideas developed by the Arts & Crafts, born of a reaction on the industrialization of the means of production affecting notably the craft.

These trends emerged between 1875 and 1890. They are noticeably slower in Germany than in Great Britain or France, for example. The German Art Nouveau allows both the emergence of strong individualities and mass production 1. Links are formed between visual artists such as Fritz von Uhde, Wilhelm Trübner, Franz von Stuck and Eugene Spiro, all of different origins and different backgrounds, but refusing the ambient conformism. Thus, Von Uhde, after a stay in Paris, opens a school in Munich, where he meets Franz von Stuck. The latter, one of the initiators of the Munich Secessionof 1892, will form Eugene Spiro. A frequent traveler, Trübner first settled in Frankfurt, while maintaining strong ties with Berlin, where he participated actively in the Berliner Secession (1899).

Open to all these artists, the founder of Jugend, Georg Hirth, believes that the art nouveau begins in Germany with the opening in April 1897 of the Leipzig Fair, the “Industrial and Commercial Exhibition of Saxony and Thuringia ” (Sächsisch-Thüringische Industrie- und Gewerbeausstellung). In particular, it allowed to discover the architectural experiments of Paul Möbius (1866-1907) and a monumental fresco by Max Klingerwhich provoked a controversy but allowed to definitively establish the modernist impulse in the opinion. In addition to the industrial-type developments put forward there, the presence of a certain ” Viennese spirit ” is evident. The Austrohungarian capital is then the theater of a real revolution, the ” Secession “. The major cities of the German Empire, such as Munich, Karlsruhe, Dresden, Berlin and Leipzig, are open to change and organize many similar events, generating a strong emulation. The influence of major international exhibitions such as Barcelona (1888), Paris (1889) or Chicago (1893) is indisputable, because it promotes the exchange of ideas and feeds a form of competitive spirit, not only on the industrial and commercial, but also on the aesthetic level.

In terms of ideas, other magazines that Jugend put forward reformist currents and modernists in art in general, such as Pan, Simplicissimus, Deutsche-Kunst and Dekoration or Dekorative Kunst launched by the architect Hermann Muthesius and Julius Meier -Graefe. It was going to open in Paris in 1900 a store specializing in decoration and furniture, La Maison Moderne. These magazines advocated new concepts on architecture, drawing, decoration, everyday objects. Young artists like Otto Fischerthey made their debut, and their greatest feathers were Hermann Obrist and August Endel. Muthesius, promoter of the ideas of William Morris, initiated in 1907 the Deutscher Werkbund with Peter Behrens; its influence was felt at the time of the emergence of the Bauhaus. As for the expressionism, it owes much to this movement.

The German aristocracy did not remain indifferent to this “new art”: true promoter of the Jugendstil, Prince Ernest-Louis of Hesse meets decorators in England and engages them for his palace of Darmstadt. In 1899, they founded a colony of artists named Mathildenhöhe, including Joseph Maria Olbrich, Peter Behrens and Bernhard Hoetger. In Karlsruhe, Hermann Billing opens an architectural practice that soon shines throughout Germany. In addition, the Belgian architect Henry Van de Velde had a decisive influence.

It was German designers who spread Art Nouveau in Rīga, a city that became an example for Latvia, with the achievements of the architect Mikhail Eisenstein.

Main creators related to Jugendstil
Jānis Alksnis
Peter Behrens
Hans Eduard von Berlepsch-Valendas
Otto Julius Bierbaum
Hermann Billing
Samuel Bing (patron)
Hans Christiansen
Wilhelm Lucas von Cranach
Lovis Corinth
Robert Curjel
Fritz Drechsler
Martin Dülfer
Otto Eckmann
Mikhail Eisenstein
Leon Elchinger
August Endel
Frank Eugene
Theodor Fahrner
Otto Fischer
Friedrich Goldscheider
Josef Goller
Ludwig Habich
Emil Franz Hänsel
Bruno Héroux
Hermann Hirzel
Bernhard Hoetger
Adolfo Hohenstein
Patriz Huber
Gustav Kampmann
Gustav Klimt
Max Klinger
Karl Koepping
Theodor von Kramer
Alfred Kusche
Max Laeuger
Paul Lange
Walter Leistikow
Max Liebermann
Ephraim Moses Lilien
Wilhelm List
Julius Meier-Graefe
Jean Mich
Paul Möbius
Otto Modersohn
Paula Modersohn-Becker
Bruno Möhring
Karl Moser
Alfons Mucha
Albin Müller
Hermann Muthesius
Hermann Obrist
Joseph Maria Olbrich
Viktor Olíva
Karl Ernst Osthaus
Konstantīns Pēkšēns
Bernhard Pankok
Bruno Paul
Alfred Pellon
Maxmilián Pirner
Max Pommer
Franz Rank
Fritz Rehm
Karel Reisner
Richard Riemerschmid
Josef Kaspar Sattler
Hugo Schaper
Erich Schilling
Leo Schnug
Charles Spindler
Franz von Stuck
Wilhelm Trübner
Fritz von Uhde
Henry Van de Velde
Heinrich Vogeler
Clara Westhoff
Josef Rudolf Witzel

Source from Wikipedia