{"id":4134,"date":"2024-02-22T12:56:48","date_gmt":"2024-02-22T12:56:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ismardavidarchive.org\/indexofnames\/?p=4134"},"modified":"2024-03-01T12:05:35","modified_gmt":"2024-03-01T12:05:35","slug":"the-last-silesian-indigo-printer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ismardavidarchive.org\/indexofnames\/the-last-silesian-indigo-printer\/","title":{"rendered":"The Last Silesian Indigo Printer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gerhard Stein, 1893\u20131972, graphic and textile artist, illustrator, caricaturist, animator, teacher.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\"Gerhard<\/a>
Gerhard Stein, working on printing blocks. From the magazine, Schlesien,<\/span> November\/December 1940. \u015al\u0105ska Biblioteka Cyfrowa<\/a>\n<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

After studying<\/span> at the art academies in Breslau and Dresden and his discharge from service at the end of World War I, Gerhard Stein made a multifaceted career as a commercial artist in Breslau. His work appeared regularly in Kunst und Volk,<\/em> the magazine of the Breslau Folk Theater, and Schlesische Theater- u. Musik-Woche,<\/em> among other publications. In April 1928, Gebrauchsgraphik,<\/em> a magazine for commercial art, featured an 11-page spread of his caricatures, illustrations and commercial posters. The glowing description of the contrast between Stein\u2019s ebullient, satirical outlook which exposed the \u201chuman weakness of the greats of the day,\u201d and the weightier, bombastic style of earlier (but soon-to-come-back) tastes1<\/a><\/sup>Brucker, Peter, Der Graphiker Gerhard Stein, Grebrauchsgraphik,<\/em> April 1928, p. 34\u201344.<\/span> seems more than a little ironic. At any rate, whether Stein lost his teaching position at the St\u00e4dtische Handwerker- und Kunstgewerbeschule Breslau<\/a>, because the Nazi authorities didn\u2019t appreciate his sense of humor2<\/a><\/sup>\u00dcberr\u00fcck, Angelica, Chrstian Art and Symbolism,<\/em> LIT Verlag M\u00fcnster, 2008,p. 289.<\/span> or, as he said, his non-Aryan-sounding name, he had to find a new means of living.3<\/a><\/sup>K\u00fcgler, Martin, Schlesischer Blaudruck aus Sachsen, Mitteilungen aus dem Schlesischen Museum zu G\u00f6rlitz,<\/em> F\u00f6rderverein Schlesisches Museum zu G\u00f6rlitz, No. 3, December 2003, p.1-2.<\/span> He returned to his home town, where he rescued his uncle\u2019s workshop from compulsory auction and took over a business that had been in his family\u2019s hands since 1763.4<\/a><\/sup>\u201eWas gut gr\u00fcnt, das tut gut blauen\u2026\u201c: Traditionsgebundene Lebensymbole und Figuren auf Stoff,<\/em> Neue Zeit, February 19, 1952, No. 42 p 3.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gerhard Stein had grown up in Steinau an der Oder, surrounded by blaudruck,<\/em> the process of resist printing on textiles that are subsequently dyed with indigo. As a child, he had dreamed of what could be done with blaudruck patterns,5<\/a><\/sup>K\u00fcgler, Schlesischer Blaudruck aus Sachsen,<\/em> p.1. <\/span> but the family regarded him as too “art-besotted”6<\/a><\/sup>\u201eWas gut gr\u00fcnt, das tut gut blauen\u2026,\u201c<\/em> Neue Zeit, p 3.<\/span> for their very traditional enterprise, so he was sent to art school. In 1938, though, he came back to a business devastated by inflation and debt. But with a trove of traditional patterns, his own new designs and support from state and federal authorities, he managed to revive the operation. Despite the severity of wartime conditions, the business did well and Stein even became a nationally celebrated craftsman. Success was short-lived. In early 1945, Stein and his family fled the advancing Russian army and made their way to West Berlin. \n<\/p>\n

With what must have been enormous resilience and dedication, Stein started over yet again. He knew of an abandoned fabric printing facility in East Germany and, while his family permanently settled in Berlin, he set about rebuilding his business in Pulsnitz. Once again, he restored a cultural treasure while, once again, painstakingly documenting his craft. During the early 1950s, Stein was able to visit Berlin often, his daughter occasionally worked with him, and he considered moving to the west. But although, or because of, his status as a Vorzeige-Handwerker<\/em> (exemplary craftsman), he was watched. In 1961, with the erection of the Wall, any hope of resettling in Berlin, as well as visits to his family, ended.7<\/a><\/sup> K\u00fcgler, Schlesischer Blaudruck aus Sachsen,<\/em> p.2.<\/span> As late as December 24, 1971, the 78 year-old craftsman was shown, promoting his wares, the last of his kind.8<\/a><\/sup>Alte Volkskunst, Berliner Zeitung,<\/em> December 24, 1971, p. 2. <\/span><\/p>\n

Gerhard Stein had been teaching at the municipal arts & crafts school in Breslau for only a year or so, when he instructed Ismar David in drawing for graphics and graded the 17-year-old\u2019s classwork as \u201crather good,\u201d with a \u201cgood\u201d for effort.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gerhard Stein, 1893\u20131972, graphic and textile artist, illustrator, caricaturist, animator, teacher. After studying at the art academies in Breslau and Dresden and his discharge from service at the end of World War I, Gerhard Stein made a multifaceted career as a commercial artist in Breslau. His work appeared regularly in Kunst und Volk, the magazine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-s"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ismardavidarchive.org\/indexofnames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ismardavidarchive.org\/indexofnames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ismardavidarchive.org\/indexofnames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ismardavidarchive.org\/indexofnames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ismardavidarchive.org\/indexofnames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4134"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.ismardavidarchive.org\/indexofnames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4160,"href":"https:\/\/www.ismardavidarchive.org\/indexofnames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4134\/revisions\/4160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ismardavidarchive.org\/indexofnames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ismardavidarchive.org\/indexofnames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ismardavidarchive.org\/indexofnames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}