GUNTA STÖLZL

To mark the 100 year anniversary of the Bauhaus we are looking to the only female master that the Bauhaus produced, the legendary textile designer  Gunta Stölzl.

Her work is a source of constant inspiration for us, but rather than boring you with our fanboy fawning, I'm just going to intersperse the incredible wikipedia timeline of her life (edited) with our favourite works of hers, and you can get an impression of a remarkable life, full of adversity and triumph.

 

• 1914-1916 Studies glass painting, ceramics and decorative painting at the Kunstgewerbeschule (School of Applied Arts) in Munich

• 1917-1918 Works as a Red Cross Nurse behind the front lines

• 1919-1923 Studies at the Bauhaus school with Itten, Klee and Kandinsky.

 

• 1923 Passes journeyman's exam; continues working in the weaving workshop.

• 1924 Helps Itten establish Ontos Weaving Workshops near Zurich

• 1925 Assumes position of technical director at Dessau weaving workshop, directs her students' practical and theoretical studies.

• 1927 Appointed as Jungmeister (Junior Master) for the entire weaving workshop, the Bauhaus’ first and only female master.

• 1929 Marries the Israeli (Palestinian) architecture student Arieh Sharon and loses German citizenship. Daughter Yael born.

• 1930 First diplomas of the Bauhaus weaving workshop are issued by Stölzl.

• 1931 Forced to resign as director of the weaving workshop. Emigrates to Switzerland and forms a private hand weaving business in Zurich, S-P-H Stoffe with Gertrud Preiswerk and Heinrich-Otto Hürlimann.

• 1932 Becomes a member of the Swiss Werkbund.

• 1933 SPH Stoffe Dissolves due to financial difficulties.

• 1936 Stölzl and Sharon divorce.

• 1937 Becomes sole owner of Handweberei Flora (Hand Weaving Studio Flora). Joins the Gesellschaft Schweizer Malerinnen, Bildhauerinnen und Kunstgewerblerinnen (Society of Swiss Women Painters, Sculptors and Craftswomen)

• 1941 Participates in the interior of the Swiss pavilion, Lyon.

• 1942 Marries Willy Stadler, becomes a Swiss citizen

• 1943 Birth of second daughter, Monika, in Zurich

• 1949-1963 Busch-Reisinger Museum and MoMA acquire works by Stölzl

• 1967-69 Dissolves hand weaving business, devotes herself to tapestry and weaving her own designs. the Victoria and Albert Museum acquires designs and fabric samples; major national and international collections.

• 1983 Dies April 22, 1983 in Zurich at the age of 86.