Guido Dessauer (7 November 1915 – 13 January 2012) was a German physicist, pioneer in
paper engineering
Paper engineering is a branch of engineering that deals with the usage of physical science (e.g. chemistry and physics) and life sciences (e.g. biology and biochemistry) in conjunction with mathematics as applied to the converting of raw materia ...
, business executive, writer, art collector,
patron
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...
of the arts, and academic. Born into a family of paper industrialists, he worked as an aerospace engineer during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and was an executive of the family's coloured paper factory in
Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg (; South Franconian: ''Aschebersch'') is a town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is its administrative seat.
Aschaffenburg belonged to the Archbishopric ...
from 1945. He was an
honorary citizen
Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honour usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...
of Austria for saving 300 jobs in Styria in the 1960s. He earned a Ph.D. from the
Graz University of Technology
Graz University of Technology (german: link=no, Technische Universität Graz, short ''TU Graz'') is one of five universities in Styria, Austria. It was founded in 1811 by Archduke John of Austria and is the oldest science and technology research ...
in his late 50s and became an honorary professor there. Interested in art, he collected bozzetti (
model
A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the Plan_(drawing), plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a mea ...
s for sculpture) for 50 years and initiated the career of
Horst Janssen
Horst Janssen (14 November 192931 August 1995) was a German draftsman, printmaker, poster artist and illustrator. He had a prolific output of drawings, etchings, woodcuts, lithographs and wood engravings.
Janssen was a student of Alfred Mahla ...
as a lithographer.
Life
Guido Dessauer was born in
Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg (; South Franconian: ''Aschebersch'') is a town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is its administrative seat.
Aschaffenburg belonged to the Archbishopric ...
to a family of industrialists who owned the Aschaffenburger Buntpapierfabrik, a leading coloured-paper factory with a long tradition.
His parents were
Hans Dessauer and Bertha, ''née'' Thywissen. Dessauer's older brother was Hans Dessauer, known as
John H. Dessauer. He was also a nephew of the scientist
Friedrich Dessauer
Friedrich Dessauer (19 July 1881 – 16 February 1963) was a physicist, a philosopher, a socially engaged entrepreneur and a journalist.
Friedrich Dessauer was born in Aschaffenburg, Germany. As a young man he was fascinated by new discover ...
, a member of parliament. Dessauer attended a
gymnasium in Aschaffenburg that taught the Greek and Latin languages. Later in life he regretted that he had not learned Hebrew, because he would have liked to read what his Jewish ancestors had written. He studied physics at the
University of Munich
The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's List of universities in Germany, sixth-oldest u ...
, and was also interested in art and history. During World War II he worked in aerospace research. Later he was a pioneer in the paper industry and registered more than 30 patents. In 1945, he entered the management of the Aschaffenburger Buntpapierfabrik,
becoming its technical managing director in 1951.
Beginning in 1970 he directed a research department at another paper producer, Feldmühle AG () in
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...
.
In 1985, Dessauer was appointed honorary professor at the Institut für Papier-, Zellstoff- und Fasertechnik (Institute for Paper, Pulp and Fibre Technology) of the
Graz University of Technology
Graz University of Technology (german: link=no, Technische Universität Graz, short ''TU Graz'') is one of five universities in Styria, Austria. It was founded in 1811 by Archduke John of Austria and is the oldest science and technology research ...
, where he had earned his Ph.D. in 1972.
Dessauer was a member of the
Rotary Club
Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, profe ...
from 1957 onward. As a founding member of the Rotary Club of Aschaffenburg in 1958, he was awarded honorary membership of the club on the occasion of its 50th anniversary.
He was also an honorary member of the International Association of Paper Historians.
Dessauer was married in 1949 to Gabrielle von Keller (20 December 1916 – 22 February 2010), a daughter of the diplomat
Friedrich von Keller. They had four children, Irene, Franziska, Friederike, and
Gabriel Dessauer
Gabriel Dessauer (born 4 December 1955) is a German cantor, concert organist, and academic. He was responsible for the church music at St. Bonifatius, Wiesbaden from 1981 to 2021, conducting the Chor von St. Bonifatius until 2018. He is an inte ...
, who is the
Kantor at
St. Bonifatius, Wiesbaden. They lived in
Tutzing
Tutzing is a municipality in the district of Starnberg in Bavaria, Germany, on the west bank of the Starnberger See. Just 40 km south-west of Munich and with good views of the Alps, the town was traditionally a favorite vacation spot for th ...
, where he died on 13 January 2012.
Art
Dessauer collected European
sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
s, especially three-dimensional
model
A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the Plan_(drawing), plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a mea ...
s for sculpture called
maquette
A ''maquette'' (French word for scale model, sometimes referred to by the Italian names ''plastico'' or ''modello'') is a scale model or rough draft of an unfinished sculpture. An equivalent term is ''bozzetto'', from the Italian word for "sketc ...
s or bozzetti.
They are of special interest to experts because they show the creative process. The ''Sammlung Dessauer'' (Dessauer Collection) of 340 pieces from several periods up to the ''Klassische Moderne'' era is the largest private collection of bozzetti in Germany.
A selection of 72 pieces from the Baroque era was shown in 2002 in the
Germanisches Nationalmuseum
The Germanisches National Museum is a museum in Nuremberg, Germany. Founded in 1852, it houses a large collection of items relating to German culture and art extending from prehistoric times through to the present day. The Germanisches National ...
in Nuremberg, the Alte Galerie (Old Gallery) of the
Landesmuseum Joanneum
The Universalmuseum Joanneum is a multidisciplinary museum with buildings in several locations in the province of Styria, Austria. It has galleries and collections in many subject areas including archaeology, geology, paleontology, mineralogy, ...
in Graz, the
Kunstmuseum "Kloster Unser Lieben Frauen" in
Magdeburg
Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river.
Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...
, and the
Augustinermuseum in Freiburg, under the title ''Kleine Ekstasen – Barocke Meisterwerke aus der Sammlung Dessauer'' (Little ecstasies – Baroque master works from the Dessauer Collection). It showed bozzetti from the baroque,
rococo
Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
, and
Classicism
Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aestheti ...
eras by sculptors including
Antonio Canova
Antonio Canova (; 1 November 1757 – 13 October 1822) was an Italian Neoclassical sculptor, famous for his marble sculptures. Often regarded as the greatest of the Neoclassical artists,. his sculpture was inspired by the Baroque and the cl ...
,
François Duquesnoy
François Duquesnoy or Frans Duquesnoy (12 January 1597 – 18 July 1643) was a Flemish Baroque sculptor who was active in Rome for most of his career. His idealized representations are often contrasted with the more emotional character of Ber ...
,
Etienne-Maurice Falconet,
Jean-Antoine Houdon
Jean-Antoine Houdon (; 20 March 1741 – 15 July 1828) was a French neoclassical sculptor.
Houdon is famous for his portrait busts and statues of philosophers, inventors and political figures of the Enlightenment. Houdon's subjects included De ...
,
Camillo Rusconi
Camillo Rusconi (14 July 1658 – 8 December 1728) was an Italian sculptor of the late Baroque in Rome. His style displays both features of Baroque and Neoclassicism. He has been described as a Carlo Maratta in marble.
Biography
Initially trained ...
, und
Philipp Jakob Straub
Philipp Jakob Straub (30 April 1706 (baptism) – 26 August 1774) was an Austrian sculptor from a well-known family of German Baroque sculptors. His father Johann George Straub and his brothers Johann Baptist, Joseph, and Johann Georg Straub were ...
.
In the early 1950s, Dessauer commissioned a portrait of his father-in-law from
Horst Janssen
Horst Janssen (14 November 192931 August 1995) was a German draftsman, printmaker, poster artist and illustrator. He had a prolific output of drawings, etchings, woodcuts, lithographs and wood engravings.
Janssen was a student of Alfred Mahla ...
, followed by portraits of other family members. Janssen was able to create his first
lithograph
Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...
s using the technical equipment at the Aschaffenburger Buntpapierfabrik.
Awards
In 1964, Dessauer was awarded
honorary citizenship
Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honour usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...
in Austria for saving 300 jobs while serving as a member of the board of the paper factory in
Niklasdorf.
He received the ''Großes Goldenes
Ehrenzeichen des Landes Steiermark'' (
in German) for ''Verdienste um die steirische Papierindustrie, Kunstförderung'' (Services to the
Styria
Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...
n paper industry, patronage of the arts).
In 2008, Dessauer was awarded the German
Bundesverdienstkreuz am Bande (Cross of the Order of Merit).
Publications
* ''Horst Janssen und Aschaffenburg'' (Horst Janssen, Brigitte Schad, Guido Dessauer, Reiner Meyer), Aschaffenburg 2002,
* ''Wolkenkleister, Marmor und Brokat: Historische Buntpapiere'' (Gisela Reschke, Guido Dessauer "Über Moden und Zyklen in der Rezeption von Kunst und Kunsthandwerk" About fashions and cycles in the reception of art and crafts
), Berlin 1997,
''Papierzerfall: Ursachen und Konsequenzen'', Ein Beitrag von Prof. Dr. Guido Dessauer, GrazForum Bestandserhaltung of the
University of Münster
The University of Münster (german: Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, WWU) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany.
With more than 43,000 students and over ...
2001
Literature
* Frank Matthias Kammel: ''Kleine Ekstasen – Barocke Meisterwerke aus der Sammlung Dessauer''. Beiträge von Saskia Durian-Ress, Annette Scherer, Beatrize Söding, Ulrich Söding. Nürnberg 2001,
References
External links
*
"Was sie nur mit der Kunst haben" / Ausstellung: Galerie Kunst & Genuss in Amorbach zeigt Radierungen und Lithografien von Horst Janssen(Show of Janssen lithographs, including portraits of Dessauer family members, in a gallery in Amorbach) Main-Echo 21 April 2008
*Michaela Schneider
Welch edles Kunstprodukt / Schau: »Gefärbt, gekämmt, getunkt, gedruckt« - Buntpapier im Mainfränkischen Museum(What a noble art product / Show: »Coloured, combed, dunked, printed« - Coloured paper in the
Mainfränkisches Museum
Marienberg Fortress (German: ''Festung Marienberg'') is a prominent landmark on the left bank of the Main river in Würzburg, in the Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. The mighty Fortress Marienberg is a symbol of Würzburg and served as a h ...
, Würzburg) Main-Echo 25 October 2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dessauer, Guido
20th-century German physicists
German art collectors
20th-century art collectors
21st-century art collectors
Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
1915 births
2012 deaths
Dessauer family