Carola Giedion-Welcker (née Welcker; April 25, 1893,

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

– February 21, 1979, Zurich) was a German-Swiss art historian.

Life and work

Carola Welcker was born in Cologne in 1893, the daughter of a banker Carl Welcker (1848–1928) and his American wife Mary Legien (1865–1919). She studied art history in Munich under Heinrich Wölfflin, and in Bonn with Paul Clemen. She received her doctorate in Bonn in 1922. During her studies in Munich she met

Sigfried Giedion Sigfried Giedion (sometimes misspelled Siegfried Giedion; 14 April 1888, Prague – 10 April 1968, Zürich) was a Bohemian-born Swiss historian and critic of architecture. His ideas and books, ''Space, Time and Architecture'', and ''Mechaniza ...

, a Swiss fellow-student, and they married in 1919. In 1923 the couple met

László Moholy-Nagy László Moholy-Nagy (; ; born László Weisz; July 20, 1895 – November 24, 1946) was a Hungarian painter and photographer as well as a professor in the Bauhaus school. He was highly influenced by constructivism and a strong advocate of the i ...

, who introduced them to

Hans Arp Hans Peter Wilhelm Arp (16 September 1886 – 7 June 1966), better known as Jean Arp in English, was a German-French sculptor, painter, and poet. He was known as a Dadaist and an abstract artist. Early life Arp was born in Straßburg (now Stras ...

a year later. Arp interested her in the literature of Lautréamont,

Rimbaud Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he start ...

, and Jarry, and persuaded her to attend the 1925 Surrealists exhibition in Paris. Through Arp she met

Piet Mondrian Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (), after 1906 known as Piet Mondrian (, also , ; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), was a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He is known for being ...

and

Constantin Brâncuși Constantin Brâncuși (; February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) was a Romanian Sculpture, sculptor, painter and photographer who made his career in France. Considered one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th-century and a pioneer of ...

, whom she visited in his studio in 1928. She later wrote a monograph on him. In 1925 the Giedions moved to Zurich. Their home became a meeting-place for modern artists such as Hans Arp,

Sophie Taeuber-Arp Sophie Henriette Gertrud Taeuber-Arp (; 19 January 1889 – 13 January 1943) was a Swiss artist, painter, sculptor, textile designer, furniture and interior designer, architect, and dancer. Born in 1889 in Davos, and raised in Trogen, Switzerlan ...

Kurt Schwitters Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters (20 June 1887 – 8 January 1948) was a German artist who was born in Hanover, Germany. Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including dadaism, constructivism, surrealism, poetry, sound, pain ...

and

Max Ernst Max Ernst (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German (naturalised American in 1948 and French in 1958) painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealism ...

. Irish writer

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

was also one of her guests. Giedion-Welcker met

Paul Klee Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented wi ...

in Bern and subsequently wrote a biography of him. A year before her death in 1946, Paul Klee's widow

Lily Klee Lily Klee (born Karoline Sophie Elisabeth Stumpf; 10 October 1876 in Munich – 22 September 1946 Bern) was a German piano teacher, wife of painter Paul Klee, and mother to theatrical director . Life Lily Stumpf was the daughter of a doctor and ...

specified in her will that the care of her husband's artistic estate should be overseen by a commission that was to include her son, Felix Klee, Carola Giedion-Welcker, and the Bern collectors Werner Allenbach, Rolf Bürgi, Hans Meyer-Benteli and Hermann Rupf.. Giedion-Welcker published about 280 articles in magazines on modern painting, sculpture and poetry. She also wrote 17 books, including ''Moderne Plastik'', ''Poètes à l'Écart'' and the anthology ''Schriften 1926–1971'', published in 1973 by Reinhold Hohl. In 2007 the Kunsthaus Zurich dedicated an exhibition to Carola Giedion-Welcker, curated by Cathérine Hug. It showed how as an art historian, author, and curator, she shaped the cultural life of the city and influenced the gallery's purchasing policy. About 40 works including paintings, sculpture, graphics, photos and letters were exhibited.Carola Giedion-Welcker: ''Paul Klee'', S. 171.

Writings (selection)

*"''Bayrische Rokokoplastik. J. B. Straub und seine Stellung in Landschaft und Zeit''. avarian Rococoplasty. JB Straub and his position in landscape and time" Law, Munich 1922 (= dissertation) * ''Moderne Plastik. Elemente der Wirklichkeit; Masse und Auflockerung''. Girsberger, Zurich 1937 *
Sublimierung und Vergeistigung der plastischen Form bei Medardo Rosso
' ublimation and spiritualization of the plastic form by Medardo Rosso In: Architektur und Kunst, Vol. 41, 1954, pp. 329–334 * ''Sculpture of the XX. Century''. Hatje, Stuttgart 1955 * ''Hans Arp''. Hatje, Stuttgart 1957 * ''Constantin Brancusi''. Benno Schwabe & Co, Basel 1958 * ''Alfred Jarry. A monograph''. Arche, Zurich 1960 & 1988, * ''Paul Klee'', Rowohlt, Reinbek 1961, 17th edition 1995, * ''Schriften 1926–1971. Stationen zu einem Zeitbild'' ritings 1926–1971. Stations to a time picture DuMont Reiseverlag, Ostfildern 1973,

Literature

*Iris Bruderer-Oswald, Iris:, ''Das neue Sehen: Carola Giedion-Welcker und die Sprache der Moderne". Benteli Verlag, Zurich 2008, . *Regula Krähenbühl (ed.): ''Avantgarden im Fokus der Kunstkritik. Eine Hommage an Carola Giedion-Welcker (1893–1979)'' Avant-garde in the focus of art criticism. A tribute to Carola Giedion-Welcker (1893-1979)" Files of the interdisciplinary symposium in Zurich, 22/23 October 2009 (= outlines volume 6). Zurich 2011,

References

External links

www.kunsthaus.ch
(PDF; 147 kB) Carola Giedion-Welcker
Buchbesprechung zu ''Das Neue Sehen''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giedon-Welcker, Corola 1893 births 1979 deaths Swiss art historians Swiss women historians Swiss women art critics Swiss women writers Swiss art critics Swiss architecture writers German emigrants to Switzerland