Emil Rudolf Weiß (or Weiss; 12 October 1875,

Lahr Lahr (officially Lahr/Schwarzwald since 30 September 1978) (); ) is a city in western Baden-Württemberg, Germany, approximately 50 km north of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, 40 km southeast of Strasbourg, and 95 km southwest of Ka ...

– 7 November 1942,

Meersburg Meersburg () is a town in Baden-Württemberg in the southwest of Germany. It is on Lake Constance. It is known for its medieval city. The lower town ("Unterstadt") and upper town ("Oberstadt") are reserved for pedestrians only, and connected by t ...

) was a German painter,

typographer Typography is the art and technique of Typesetting, arranging type to make written language legibility, legible, readability, readable and beauty, appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, Point (typogra ...

, graphic artist and poet.

Biography

His father was a police officer and he grew up in

Breisach Breisach am Rhein (, ; formerly Alt-Breisach, , in contrast to " New Breisach"; Low Alemannic: ''Alt-Brisach''), commonly known as Breisach, is a town with approximately 16,500 inhabitants, situated along the Rhine in the Rhine Valley, in the di ...

and

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...

."Not Pursued, but Excluded"
a lecture by Bernhard Maier @

Badische Zeitung The ''Badische Zeitung'' (''Baden Newspaper'') is a German newspaper based in Freiburg im Breisgau, covering the South Western part of Germany and the Black Forest region. It has a circulation of 145,825 and a readership of 409,000. The paper was ...

. From 1893 to 1896, he studied at the

Academy of Fine Arts, Karlsruhe The State Academy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe or is an academy of arts in Karlsruhe, in Baden-Württemberg in south-western Germany. History The Academy was founded in 1854 by Frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden, with the landscape painter Johann ...

, with

Robert Poetzelberger The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...

. In 1895, he published his first album of works and a volume of lyric poetry. After leaving Karlsruhe, he studied at the

Académie Julian The () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907). The school was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number and qual ...

in Paris.Timeline
@ Typografie.info. Together with

Félix Vallotton Félix Édouard Vallotton (; December 28, 1865December 29, 1925) was a Swiss and French painter and printmaker associated with the group of artists known as '. He was an important figure in the development of the modern woodcut. He painted portra ...

, he illustrated a calendar book called ''Der bunte Vogel'' (The Colorful Bird). He then returned to Karlsruhe before going to

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, where he worked with

Hans Thoma Hans Thoma (2 October 1839 – 7 November 1924) was a German painter. Biography Hans Thoma was born on 2 October 1839 in Bernau, Grand Duchy of Baden, in the Black Forest, Germany. He was the son of a miller and was trained in the basics of p ...

and Leopold Graf von Kalckreuth. In 1899, he went back to Paris with his friend,

Karl Hofer Karl Christian Ludwig Hofer or ''Carl Hofer'' (11 October 1878 – 3 April 1955) was a German expressionist painter. He was director of the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts. One of the most prominent painters of expressionism, he never was a me ...

. From 1902 to 1909, he enjoyed the patronage of the Swiss industrialist, . During that time, he also designed

trading card A trading card (or collectible card) is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing (fictional or real) and a short description of the picture, along with other t ...

s for the

Stollwerck Stollwerck Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, GmbH is a German chocolate manufacturer based in Norderstedt. It was founded in 1839 and expanded internationally in Europe and America, becoming the second largest producer of chocolate in t ...

chocolate company. He married a singer named Johanna Schwan in 1903. After his marriage,

Karl Ernst Osthaus Karl Ernst Osthaus (15 April 1874, in Hagen – 25 March 1921, in Merano) was an important German patron of avant-garde art and architecture. Life Osthaus was born to a wealthy banking family, who also owned several businesses in the textile a ...

employed him at the painting school of the Folkwang-Museums in

Hagen Hagen () is a city in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, on the southeastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne and Volme meet the Ruhr (river), Ruhr. In 2023, the ...

. He was also involved in designing books for

S. Fischer Verlag S. Fischer Verlag is a major German publishing house, which has operated as a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing Group since 1962. The publishing house was founded in 1881 by Samuel Fischer in Berlin, but is currently based in Frankfurt am Mai ...

. In 1904, he participated in the first exhibition of the

Deutscher Künstlerbund The Deutscher Kuenstlerbund (Association of German Artists) was founded in 1903 on the initiative of Count Harry Kessler, a promoter of arts and artists; Alfred Lichtwark, director of the Hamburg Art Gallery; and the famous painters Lovis Corin ...

at the

Staatliche Antikensammlungen The Staatliche Antikensammlungen (, ''State Collections of Antiquities'') is a museum in Munich's Kunstareal holding Bavaria's collections of antiquities from Ancient Greek art, Greece, Etruscan art, Etruria and Roman art, Rome, though the sculpt ...

and provided illustrations for ''Der Buntscheck'', a children's book by

Richard Dehmel Richard Fedor Leopold Dehmel (18 November 1863 – 8 February 1920) was a German poet and writer. Life A forester's son, Richard Dehmel was born in Hermsdorf near Wendisch Buchholz (now a part of Münchehofe) in the Brandenburg Province, ...

. In 1907, with a recommendation from

Bruno Paul Bruno Paul (19 January 1874 – 17 August 1968) was a German architect, illustrator, interior designer, and furniture designer. Trained as a painter in the royal academy just as the Munich Secession developed against academic art, he first ca ...

, he was appointed to the teaching center at the

Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin __NOTOC__ The Kunstgewerbemuseum, or Museum of Decorative Arts, is an internationally important museum of the decorative arts in Berlin, Germany, part of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (Berlin State Museums). The collection is split between th ...

and he joined the

Berlin Secession The Berlin Secession was an art movement established in Germany on May 2, 1898. Formed in reaction to the Association of Berlin Artists, and the restrictions on contemporary art imposed by Wilhelm II, German Emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm II, 65 artist ...

. He was named a Professor at the Kunstgewerbemuseum's school in 1910, where he taught decorative painting and sketching until 1933. He divorced Johanna in 1914 and was conscripted in 1917, although he was quickly dismissed from service due to a heart problem. That same year, he married the sculptor,

Renée Sintenis Renée Sintenis, née Renate Alice Sintenis (20 March 1888 – 22 April 1965), also known as Frau Emil R. Weiss, was a German sculptor, medallist, and graphic artist who worked in Berlin. She created mainly small-sized animal sculptures, fe ...

. He became a member of the

Prussian Academy of Arts The Prussian Academy of Arts () was a state arts academy first established in 1694 by prince-elector Frederick III of Electorate of Brandenburg, Brandenburg in Berlin, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and later king in Kingdom of ...

in 1922. Two years later, he designed the reverse of the new 1, 2, 3 and 5

Reichsmark The (; sign: ℛ︁ℳ︁; abbreviation: RM) was the currency of Germany from 1924 until the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945, and in the American, British and French occupied zones of Germany, until 20 June 1948. The Reichsmark was then replace ...

coins. Several publishers collaborated on a

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

on the occasion of his fiftieth birthday. He also designed numerous

typeface A typeface (or font family) is a design of Letter (alphabet), letters, Numerical digit, numbers and other symbols, to be used in printing or for electronic display. Most typefaces include variations in size (e.g., 24 point), weight (e.g., light, ...

s, including Weiß-

Fraktur Fraktur () is a calligraphic hand of the Latin alphabet and any of several blackletter typefaces derived from this hand. It is designed such that the beginnings and ends of the individual strokes that make up each letter will be clearly vis ...

(1913), Weiß- Antiqua (1928, designed for the

Bauer Type Foundry Bauer is a German surname meaning "peasant" or "farmer". For notable people sharing the surname Bauer, see Bauer (surname). Bauer may also refer to: Education and literature * Bauer's Lexicon, a dictionary of Biblical Greek * Bauer Colleg ...

), Weiß- Gotisch (1936) und Weiß- Rundgotisch (1937). In 1933, the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

régime revoked his (teaching credentials) and he withdrew to his home in Baden-Baden, where he concentrated on writing. In 1936, he took part in the last annual exhibition of the Deutscher Künstlerbund in Hamburg, which was closed by the "Reichskammer der bildenden Künste", a division of the

Reichskulturkammer The Reich Chamber of Culture (''Reichskulturkammer'', abbreviated as RKK) was a government agency in Nazi Germany. It was established by law on 22 September 1933 in the course of the '' Gleichschaltung'' process at the instigation of Reich Minist ...

. The following year, he was expelled from the Academy of Arts. He died on 7 November 1942 in

, aged 67, after suffering a heart attack and was buried, at his request, in

Bernau im Schwarzwald Bernau is a municipality in the district of Waldshut in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Geography Bernau is located in a high valley in the southern Black Forest, south of the Feldberg and west of the Schluchsee. Bernau includes the valley ...

. A memorial exhibition was held in

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

, after its liberation in 1944. Many of his works were lost during the war.

Gallery

References

* "Weiß, Emil Rudolf" in:

Thieme-Becker Thieme-Becker is a German biographical dictionary of artists. Thieme-Becker The dictionary was begun under the editorship of Ulrich Thieme (1865–1922) (volumes one to fifteen) and Felix Becker (1864–1928) (volumes one to four). It was compl ...

: ''Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart''. Vol.44 * Hans Vollmer (Ed.) in: ''Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler des XX. Jahrhunderts.'' E. A. Seemann (CD-ROM), Leipzig 2008.

External links

ArtNet: More works by Weiß.
@ LinoType

@ Moor Station

@ Moor Station * {{DEFAULTSORT:Weiss, Emil Rudolf German typographers and type designers German graphic designers 1875 births 1942 deaths 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists Académie Julian German illustrators German poster artists Academic staff of the Prussian Academy of Arts Book designers Currency designers People from Lahr Art competitors at the 1928 Summer Olympics State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart alumni

Biography

Gallery

References

Further reading

External links