Fabrics, Textures, Surfaces
Photographs by Hans Finsler, Heinrich Koch and Gerda Leo
01.10.2022 — 08.01.2023
Cabinet exhibition
Shimmering silk, transparent tulle and structured weave – corresponding to the exhibition of textile artworks by Margret Eicher, presented in the so called „Westbox“ of the museum, this small cabinet exhibition was devoted to the photographic consideration, almost a century ago, of the material appeal of different fabrics and surfaces. In opposition to traditional pictorial patterns the pioneers of the “Neues Sehen” (New Vision) and of object photography in the 1920s used photographic tools such as close-ups, cropping, excerpts, light and shade variations and different degrees of sharpness and blurring in order to highlight the essence of the objects appropriately.
Artists and artwork
Hans Finsler (1891–1972)
The self-taught photographer Hans Finsler, pioneer of the “Neues Sehen” (New Vision) and of object photography in the 1920s, worked at the Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle from 1922 to 1932, where he inaugurated the first class of object photography. Dissatisfied with the classical studio photographs of the BURG products, Finsler developed an innovative “optical grammar”: in opposition to traditional pictorial patterns he used photographic tools such as close-ups, cropping, excerpts, light and shade variations and different degrees of sharpness and blurring in order to highlight the essence of the objects appropriately. Photographs of fabrics make up one of the largest groups of works in his estate. In 1987 that estate constituted the foundation of the photographic collection of the Kunstmuseum Moritzburg Halle (Saale). On show are images of fabrics from the Halle school of the arts as well as commissioned works, such as those for the Vereinigte Werkstätten A. G. (United Workshops) in Munich. In 1932 Finsler left the BURG and moved to Switzerland. His documentation of the Swiss textile factory Heberlein & Co dating from the mid-1930s also focuses on the process of fabric production.
Heinrich Koch (1896–1934)
After studying at the Bauhaus, Heinrich Koch was a student of Finsler’s at the BURG and succeeded him in 1932. He was married to Benita Koch-Otte (1892–1976), who directed the weaving department of the Halle school of the arts. In a short space of time Koch produced a compelling oeuvre. His photographs present textiles as haptic woven material that unfolds a fascinating life of its own on the two-dimensional surface of the image. His arrangements are as well-conceived as Finsler’s, albeit more geometrical in the composition of the lines and shapes, and featuring less blurring. Fabric appears as an atmospheric element in combination with other objects, such as ceramics. As early as spring 1933, one year after Koch began teaching, his activities at the BURG were terminated due to the political transition of power in Germany. He died in an accident in 1934.
Gerda Leo (1909–1993)
Gerda Leo was Finsler’s student and assistant. Her photographs of glasses, earthenware, wooden kitchen utensils and plants testify to the pictorial idiom that she learned from Finsler and translated eloquently into her own particular style. As in the case of the fabric photographs, the materiality of these objects, their surfaces and structures, are masterfully staged, thereby elucidating the possibility of transferring Finsler’s ”optical grammar” as a pictorial idiom. In 1929 Leo took part in the important exhibition “Film und Foto” (Film and Photography) organised by the Deutsche Werkbund in Stuttgart. In 1932 she turned down Finsler’s offer to accompany him to Switzerland, moving instead to Amsterdam with her husband.
Gallery
FABRICS, TEXTURES, SURFACES
Photographs by Hans Finsler, Heinrich Koch and Gerda Leo
01.10.2022 — 08.01.2023
Curator
Dr. Jule Schaffer
