OBRIST, Hermann

(b. 1862 Kilchberg, d. 1927 München)

Swiss craftsman and teacher. After studying science and medicine at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg (1885-87), he travelled to England and Scotland in 1887. There the Arts and Crafts Movement influenced his decision to turn his attentions to the applied arts. Following brief studies at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Karlsruhe and an apprenticeship as a potter, his ceramics and furniture won gold medals at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1889. In 1890, he studied at the Académie Julian in Paris before visiting Berlin and Florence. He experimented with marble sculpture and established an embroidery studio to carry out his designs. He moved his studio to Munich in 1894.

In April 1896, an exhibition in Munich at the Galerie Littauer of 35 embroideries designed by Obrist and executed by Berthe Ruchet attracted considerable critical acclaim, with commentators referring to the birth of new applied art. Obrist became the central figure in Munich’s Jugendstil movement serving as both its catalyst and spokesperson. His monumental embroideries, Whiplash (Cyclamen, c. 1895, Münchner Stadtmuseum, Munich) and Blossoming Tree (c. 1895; Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Munich), and his inspired drawings (e.g. Fantastic Shell, c. 1896; Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich) bore witness to his revolutionary notion that art must free itself from tired rehashings of worn-out styles and the relentless pursuit of nature. Rather, Obrist called for an art that would transcend mere imitation of nature to intensify life.

His creations were often semi-abstract, representing the ‘dynamic’ that he sought, as in the model for a monument entitled Movement (plaster, c. 1895; Museum Bellerive, Zurich, photo in Museum für Gestaltung, Zurich) or the Arch Pillar (1899; destroyed).

In 1901-02 Obrist, with Wilhelm von Debschitz (1871-1948), founded the Lehr- und Versuch-Ateliers für Angewandte und Freie Kunst in Munich to promulgate his ideals. The school was remarkably progressive for its time, insisting on individual freedom and requiring that its students learn to work in close cooperation with dealers and collectors. It is now recognized as an influential predecessor of the Bauhaus.

Forced by increasing deafness to withdraw from public life, Obrist left the school in 1904. His essays had been published in 1903 under the title Neue Möglichkeiten in der bildenden Kunst, after that, his only outlets were infrequent exhibitions of his works and a few commissions for funerary monuments. His death in 1927 came after years of failing health.

Blossoming Tree (wall hanging, detail)

In 1896, Obrist fascinated the art world with an exhibition of embroideries designed by himself and executed by Berthe Ruchet. The impact of the exhibition was felt far beyond Munich. Obrist’s works were lauded by critics as the “birth of a new applied art”.

Send Postcard Learn More

Fantastic shell

Obrist’s inspired drawings bore witness to his revolutionary notion that art must free itself from tired rehashings of worn-out styles and the relentless pursuit of nature. Rather, he called for an art that would transcend mere imitation of nature to intensify life.

Send Postcard Learn More

Grotto with blazing river II

Send Postcard Learn More

Jardiniere

The design idea for the vase, which in its block-like shape and the relief medallions is reminiscent of medieval animal capitals, comes from the material, the Solnhofen stone. It comes from Solnhofen an der Altm�hl, where deposited limestone plates are known for their fossilization. Hermann Obrist made use of the Solnhofen fossils as seemingly natural artefacts. He formed small lizards out of the stone, which can be identified as the Compsognathus running dinosaur. In the sense of Obrist’s design theories, based on archetypes, one could speak of a paleontological ornament.

Send Postcard Learn More

Movement

Though art history has come to categorise Obrist as an embroiderer, there are a few surviving examples of his three-dimensional output. The impressive, ribbed shaft of a phallic monument seems quite lascivious - it says much about the underlying eroticism of Art Nouveau that the man who invented the whiplash also designed something that looks suspiciously like an instrument designed to give maximum pleasure.

The picture shows a model for a sculpture at the Werkbund Exhibition, Cologne, 1914.

Send Postcard Learn More

Wiplash (Cyclamen)

Hermann Obrist was known among Art Nouveau circles as the inventor of the “whiplash”; a sinuous flourish of hairpin curves inspired by cyclamen stems that became a standard motif of fin-de-si�cle design.

Send Postcard Learn More