Änne Koken (28 May 1885, Hanover - 19 April 1919, Hanover) was a German artist. In addition to landscapes and

still-life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or man-made (drinking glasses, boo ...

s, she designed stained glass, clothing and decorative book covers. She also worked as a commercial artist, notably for the firms

Bahlsen Bahlsen is a German food company based in Hanover. It was founded in July 1889 by Hermann Bahlsen (1859–1919) as the "Hannoversche Keksfabrik H. Bahlsen". German politician Ernst Albrecht (politician, born 1930), Ernst Albrecht (1930–2014) w ...

and Günther Wagner (a pharmaceutical company, now a division of

Pelikan AG Pelikan Holding AG is a German manufacturing company of writing, office and art equipment. Credited with the invention of the differential-piston filling method, the original company was founded in Hanover in 1838 before it went bankrupt and r ...

Biography

Her father was the painter and engraver, Gustav Koken. She presumably took her first art lessons from her father, then studied at the "School for Painting and Decorative Art" in Munich with

Hans Eduard von Berlepsch-Valendas Hans Karl Eduard von Berlepsch-Valendas (31 December 1849, St. Gallen – 17 August 1921, Munich) was a Swiss architect, designer, writer and painter. Biography His father, Hermann Alexander (1813–1883) was a liberal bookseller and writer wh ...

, at a time when actual art in advertising was still a new idea.Kaiserkern, Babette: ''Änne Koken – Einführung in Leben und Werk'' (Exhibition catalog) 2007.

Historisches Museum Hannover (german: Historisches Museum Hannover) is an historical museum situated in Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony, Germany. The museum was founded in 1903 as the Homeland Museum of the City of Hanover (). Its collections are related to the histor ...

. In 1909, she designed the lobster trademark for the food company, which, in a slightly modernized form, is still in use today. A Year later, she opened her own studio in Hannover. In 1911, she became a member of the artistic advisory board of Bahlsen and designed a poster depicting their historic headquarters on the . Over the next few years, she helped the company establish its image. She worked for them until her death. After 1912, she designed clothing, hats, and textile pieces that appeared in the magazine ''Neue Frauenkleidung und Frauenkultur'' (New Women's Clothing and Culture), which was published until the 1930s. In 1913, a major article about her in ', a magazine devoted to poster art. By 1914, her works were being shown in exhibitions of more conventional art, including that of the Deutscher Werkbund. She was also elected a board member at the Museum August Kestner. In 1918, she participated in the first exhibition of the . As a member of the "Vereins für Deutsche Frauenkleidung und Kultur" (Association for German Women's Clothing and Culture), she campaigned for women's rights. In 1919, she died of pneumonia; two weeks after giving birth to her daughter.

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External links

Lecture by Babette Kaiserkern on the life and works of Änne Koken
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koken, Anne 1885 births 1919 deaths German designers German illustrators Deaths from pneumonia in Germany

Biography

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Further reading

External links