EINFACHE RAUMGESTALTUNG [Simple Room Design]
Dresden, Germany: Kunstgewerbe, c. 1930. First Edition. Folio, all original 25 gouche plates present. In Good plus condition with a Poor condition slipcase. Spine is dark green. Slip case has severe scuffing, chipping, and tearing along extremities mild soiling and former owner's pen to paper label; spine almost completely split, front flap fully detached, cardboard exposed. Plates have mild general soiling and bending wear along edges. Each plate is partially adhered to black backing paper, with "Tafel" stamped and a handwritten number identifying the plates from 51-75 on the rear. Consignment. Shelved in Rm. C.
1395377
Special Collections - Upstairs
Price: $600
NOTES
In the interwar period, functionality and simplicity were keys for German artists seeking to integrate an aesthetic sensibility into daily life. To the Dresden artist Paul Grohmann, architecture and interior design proved a ripe location for micro studies in life and art, both pre- and post-war. Using gouache, Grohmann painted EINFACHE RAUMGESTALTUNG, which translates to "simple room design." This beautiful portfolio was made accessible by Springer & Möller AG of Leipzig, Germany who printed other architecturally-inspired works out of Paul Grohmann's Dresden studio such as "Modern Room Design." The idea was twofold: firstly, to depict to the average consumer how to integrate art into the home using color and design and secondly, to showcase the "brush, squirting, and stencil techniques" of Grohmann's studio. Little is known about Grohmann himself, other than that his work is extremely scarce. This portfolio survived World War II, representing an uncommon vista into the Bauhaus lifestyle which the German public would again romanticize amidst the aftermath of World War II.