Abstract
A few years after art patron and museum founder Karl Ernst Osthaus (1874-1921) had his family residence—the Hohenhof (1908-1906)—built, he decided to have his study redesigned with a striking ornament. The chapter aims to explain why Osthaus had his study redesigned and how impulses from Islamic ornamentation and the world art collection at his museum—the Folkwang—were tied to this process. It will become apparent that to Osthaus this was not a process of mere decoration after Orientalist fashion but rather a way to exemplify how impulses from other cultures can lead to a new way of artistic practice. Osthaus believed that applied arts and architecture were the most important means of initiating social change, and his study became a place to discuss the significance of Eastern artistic practice to contemporary design questions.
TopIntroduction
The following essay will examine the fluctuation of ideas present within the discourse on ornamentation around 1900 based on the example of a study within a villa built for the German art patron Karl Ernst Osthaus (1874-1921). Osthaus was the son of a banker, living in the town of Hagen in the western part of the German Empire. In 1896, Osthaus inherited a substantial amount of money from his grandparents and took it upon himself to invest most of it in projects for the betterment of society (Erben, 1971, pp. 23f). According to his vision, social change could only be brought about through a fundamental transformation of aesthetic practice that should include all parts of society. His first step toward this improvement was to establish a museum – the Folkwang (1902) – open to the public in his industrial hometown. It was a bold move, made possible only by Osthaus’ financial independence, which allowed him to establish such an institution far away from the cultural centers of the time. Throughout Germany, many residents and cultural experts were critical of implementing cultural life in the industrial centers (Scheffler, 1921), but Osthaus quickly became a leading figure within the museum scene and reform movements of his time (Jeanneret, 1912).
Figure 1. Entrance to the villa Hohenhof. Photographer unknown, c. 1910
Between 1906 and 1908 Belgian designer Henry van de Velde built a villa for Osthaus and his family at the outskirts of Hagen (Figure 1). The so-called Hohenhof was conceived as a Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art) and designed to represent Osthaus’ reform ideas. One of its most significant rooms is the study, which was strikingly altered with a bold wall-ornamentation a few years after the Hohenhof had been completed (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Study at the Hohenhof with ornaments by Jan Thorn Prikker. Andreas Lechtape, 2013
To fully grasp the significance of Osthaus’ decision to alter the atmosphere and appearance of his study with such a bold ornament, an excursion into ornament creation around 1900 and its relationship to Orientalism will be necessary. This will help to understand how the ornamentation of the study fits into Osthaus’ modernist aspirations and where Osthaus’ approach differs from the straightforward Orientalist enthusiasm that many other collectors at the time displayed and which made them adorn their homes in similar – albeit not same – ways.
After a short excursion to ornament discourse, the essay will examining how so-called world art, including a substantial collection of tiles displaying Islamic ornament, was exhibited and studied at the Folkwang. The Folkwang was the pivot of Osthaus’ reform projects, hence it has to be the starting point of any discussion of this topic. The essay will concentrate primarily on Osthaus’ interest in Islamic art and how it influenced his ideas and endeavors, even though the Folkwang collection contained objects from different cultures, which for Osthaus and many of his fellow art patrons and artists established the base for a utopian vision of world art. This vision also influenced the construction of Osthaus’ family residence – the Hohenhof. At the Hohenhof different cultural influences can be detected as well (Ruppio 2021) but the essay will concentrate on possible connections to Islamic art within the study. The main purpose will be to show how the ornamentation of the Hohenhof study was informed by profound knowledge and personal experience with Islamic ornament and Damascene interiors, instead of being a mere Orientalist fantasy.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Damascus: The capital of Syria, in the southwest: reputedly the oldest city in the world, having been inhabited continuously since before 2000 BC.
Folkwang: Name given to his private museum by Karl Ernst Osthaus. The word derives from Norse mythology and refers to the palace of the goddess Freya; literally meaning “folk meadow.”
Ethnological Museum Dresden: Museum founded in 1875 and containing an ethnographic collection with more than 90,000 artefacts from all parts of the earth. One of few museums to containing a complete Damascene interieur.
Orientalism: Representation of the Eastern world in a stereotyped way that is regarded as embodying a colonialist attitude. Since the publication of Edward Said's “Orientalism” in 1978, the term is often used to refer to a general patronizing Western attitude towards the Middle Easter, Asia, and North Africa.
Germany: For the period of time referenced in this text this means the German Empire (1871-1918).
Ornament: An accessory, article, or detail used to beautify the appearance of something to which it is added or of which it is a part (as in architectural ornament). Reform movements around 1900, however, discussed that ornament went beyond the mere embellishment of surfaces and could convey a deeper meaning.
World Art: In the context of this text, the term means the approach by museums, collectors and artists in the beginning of the 20 th century to try and find a connecting line between worldwide artistic production. Today, this approach is critically questioned as a means of colonial oppression. However, this approach also helped to free art history from its Eurocentrism.
Applied Arts: Term describing the design or decoration of functional objects so as to make them aesthetically pleasing. It is used in distinction to fine art, although there is often no clear dividing line between the two areas.