Museum Exhibition Catalogues, Monographs, Artist's Projects, Curatorial Writings and Essays
"Does woven fabric present a challenge for mankind's creative desire? Yes! For woven fabrics form an aesthetic whole: a composition of form, color, and substance into unity. In all fields of design today, there is a striving for universal laws and order. Thus, we in the weaving workshop have also set ourselves the task of exploring the basic laws of our field of specialization. Whereas, for instance, in the early days of our work at the Bauhaus, principles of pictorial images formed our foundation--a woven piece was a painting made of wool, so to speak--today it is clear to us that a woven piece is always a serviceable object, which is equally determined by its function as well as its means of production.
Weaving is primarily a woman's field. Play with form and color, an enhanced sensitivity to material, the ability to feel and adapt strongly, more rhythmic than logical thinking are all predispositions with which the female character is generally equipped, which makes women particularly able to achieve great creativity in the field of textiles." Gunta Stölzl, excerpted from Gunta Stölzl: Bauhaus Master, The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Published by The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Foreword by Monika Stadler. Text by Gunta Stölzl.
Gunta Stölzl (1897-1983) was the only woman to teach at the Bauhaus, the twentieth century's most important school of design, architecture and art. A pioneer in textile design, Stölzl was head of the weaving workshop, and during her tenure there transformed it into a flourishing, productive enterprise. This volume illustrates more than 75 key works by Stölzl, accompanied by excerpts drawn from her journals, letters and articles, some of which are published here for the first time. Accompanied by explanatory comments and a foreword by Monika Stadler, Stölzl's daughter, these personal writings offer an intimate view of the artist's life and work between 1917 and 1931, from her student years in Munich to her service as a Red Cross nurse during the war, and continuing through her years at the Bauhaus in Weimar and Dessau until she founded her own hand-weaving business in Zurich. The chronological organization of the texts, paired with related works, gives rise to many surprising discoveries and provides a vivid portrait of Gunta Stölzl as both an individual and an artist. Gunta Stölzl (1897-1983) studied at the Kunstgewerbe-schule in Munich from 1914 to 1916, then at the Bauhaus Weimar from 1919 to 1925. She was the director of the weaving workshop at the Bauhaus Dessau from 1925 to 1931. After resigning from the Bauhaus, she ran her own weaving workshop in Zurich, until her death in 1983. Published in association with Hatje Cantz.
