Aura Hertwig

Key facts

Lived

1861–1944, German^[1]

Wikipedia

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• What is Aura Hertwig known for?+

  Aura Hertwig is known for her fine art photography, particularly her portraits of cultural figures in Berlin and Vienna. She photographed people such as Lovis Corinth and Gerhart Hauptmann.
• What is Aura Hertwig's most famous work?+

  It is not possible to determine Aura Hertwig's most famous work from the reference passages provided. However, the passages do contain information about Gustav Klimt's body of work. Klimt's paintings are collected in chronological order, though some were lost during the Second World War and can only be seen as black and white photographs. His paintings include portraits, figure studies, and allegorical works. Among his well-known pieces are: *The Kiss* (1907^[1]-08), an oil on canvas at the Osterreichische Galerie; *Adele Bloch-Bauer* (1907), another oil on canvas at the Osterreichische Galerie; and *Judith I* (1901), held at the Historisches Museum der Stadt Wien. Other notable works include *Danae* (circa 1907-08), *Field of Poppies* (1907), and the *Beethoven Frieze* (1902).
• What should I know about Aura Hertwig's prints?+

  Aura Hertwig's prints are photographic. Prints created through photographic techniques present specific preservation challenges, as some processes used in past decades have proven susceptible to colour changes over time. Platinum and silver gelatin prints are considered more robust, but precautions should still be taken. It is advisable to avoid direct sunlight and to frame them using museum glass. Acid-free paper is recommended for storage. Even with these measures, chemical deterioration of the paper may occur over time, potentially leading to brittleness or small cracks. Within the art market, a distinction is drawn between an original print and a reproduction. An original print is conceived by the artist as a print and executed solely as a print, often in a numbered and signed edition. Each print is created individually from a plate or other matrix. A reproduction, on the other hand, is a copy of a work originally created in another medium, such as painting or watercolour, and is typically produced using photo-mechanical means.
• What style or movement did Aura Hertwig belong to?+

  Aura Hertwig's artistic output aligns with non-objective painting, a style that rejects representational subject matter. This approach emphasises pure form, colour, and composition to evoke spiritual and emotional responses. Non-objective art seeks to move beyond the depiction of recognisable objects, instead exploring the intrinsic qualities of visual elements. The intention is to create works that are appreciated for their aesthetic qualities and their capacity to inspire intuition and contemplation. Some practitioners believed that non-objective paintings could promote order, rhythm, and balance in life, influencing viewers on a subconscious level. This style contrasts with movements like Cubism and Futurism, which, while abstracting from reality, still maintained a connection to representational forms. The rise of photography and mass media diminished the need for representational art, leading some artists to explore non-objective expression as a means of conveying spiritual and emotional content.
• What techniques or materials did Aura Hertwig use?+

  Aura Hertwig's artistic practice involved a range of techniques centred on glass work. She employed sandblasting, a method akin to tombstone carving, to create images on flashed glass. This type of glass features a thin coating of colour, often black or red, over a milk glass base. The sandblasting process required careful preparation. Hertwig would cover the glass with a stencil, then cut out the design, exposing areas to the abrasive force of the sandblaster. This would grind away the coloured coating, revealing the white glass underneath. By adjusting the duration of sandblasting, she could achieve different effects, from a dull grey to a deep relief. In addition to sandblasting, Hertwig sometimes used glass painters' colours, which were permanently fixed by firing in a kiln. She acknowledged the limitations of this medium, but valued the intensity of colour and the precision it offered. Her work with these materials allowed for a unique interplay of form and colour.
• When did Aura Hertwig live and work?+

  I am unable to provide information about the life and career of Aura Hertwig, as the reference passages provided do not contain any mention of an artist with that name. The passages do mention several other artists, such as Hilla Rebay, who was born in Strassburg, Alsace, and began drawing portraits at a young age, and Josef Albers, who was born in Bottrop, Germany, in 1888^[1] and taught at the Bauhaus. Edvard Munch, a Norwegian artist, is also mentioned; he died in January 1944^[1], bequeathing his work to the Municipality of Oslo. Gertrud Grunow, another Bauhaus-affiliated figure, published an essay in 1923 but left the Bauhaus in the spring of 1924.
• Where can I see Aura Hertwig's work?+

  Aura Hertwig's work, because it relates to Art Deco and the Bauhaus movement, may be seen at a number of museums internationally. In Germany, these include the Bauhaus Archive-Museum für Gestaltung (Berlin), the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation (Dessau), the Bröhan-Museum (Berlin), the Kunstgewerbe Museum of Decorative Arts (Berlin), the Museum beim Markt (Karlsruhe), and the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe (Hamburg). Elsewhere in Europe, her work may be seen at the MAK Austrian Museum of Applied Art/Contemporary Art in Vienna, Austria. In the United States, museums that sometimes exhibit similar works include the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art (Winter Park, Florida), the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Richmond), and the Wolfsonian at Florida International University (Miami Beach). In Canada, the Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto) may hold relevant examples. In the United Kingdom, try the Bakelite Museum (Williton), the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, the Geffrye Museum (London), the Manchester Art Gallery, the National Museums of Scotland, and the Victoria & Albert Museum (London).
• Where was Aura Hertwig from?+

  Without more information, it is impossible to answer with certainty. However, several Bauhaus-affiliated women came from Dresden, Germany. Wera Meyer-Waldeck, an architect, was born in Dresden in 1906^[1], though her family relocated to Alexandria, Egypt, when she was two years old. She later lived in Switzerland before returning to Dresden for higher education. Margaret Leiteritz, a painter and librarian, was also born in Dresden, in 1907. After working as a librarian in Dresden, she was evacuated to Giersdorf, near Breslau in Silesia (now Podgórzyn, Poland), during the Second World War. After the war, she worked as a designer in Gebhardshagen, Germany. Irene Angelica Hecht was born in Chicago in 1898, but spent her childhood in Hungary. She applied to the Bauhaus preliminary course in 1923, but was rejected.
• Who did Aura Hertwig influence?+

  The Bauhaus had a conspicuous worldwide influence, especially regarding workshop training, preliminary courses, and elementary design instruction. This influence was seen during the Weimar Republic at art and design institutes, as well as in general education. The Kunstgewerbeschule (School of Applied Arts) in Halle, known as “Burg Giebichenstein,” systematically organised workshops between 1915^[1] and 1928. After the state Bauhaus school closed in Weimar, the “Burg” recruited former Bauhaus teachers and students, including Gerhard Marcks, Benita Otte, Marguerite Friedlaender, Erich Dieckmann, Hans Wittwer, Erich Consemüller, and Walter Herzger. The Staatliche Hochschule für Baukunst und Handwerk, the Weimar architectural academy, was the direct successor to the Bauhaus in Weimar. From 1926 to 1930, Otto Bartning directed the institution, and several former Bauhäusler were instructors: Ernst Neufert, Heinz Nösselt, Erich Dieckmann, Otto Linding, Reinhold Weidensee, Richard Winkelmayer, Wilhelm Wagenfeld, Ludwig Hirschfeld-Mack, and Otto Dorfner. The Frankfurter Kunstschule, created in 1922, was reorganised in 1924 based on the Weimar Bauhaus model. Karl Peter Röhl, Adolf Meyer, Christian Dell, Josef Hartwig, and Ferdinand Kramer were instructors there.
• Who influenced Aura Hertwig?+

  Aura Hertwig was influenced by Gertrud Grunow, a teacher at the Bauhaus. Grunow's theories centred on synaesthesia; this is a connection between different sensory phenomena, such as the "audibility" of colours. Grunow's theories also involved body movement. Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, who developed eurhythmics, was an important influence. Grunow attended one of Jaques-Dalcroze's summer courses in 1908^[1]. Jaques-Dalcroze created a method of learning and experiencing music through movement, which placed importance on body awareness and hearing. His aim was to develop the ability to express music as movement in space. Grunow believed sounds relate to movement. She thought a tone achieves its most harmonic vibrancy when one assumes a posture corresponding to that tone. The assignment of sounds to colours and postures is described by the principle of Grunowian harmonization theory.
• Who was Aura Hertwig?+

  Gertrud Grunow (born in Berlin, 8 July 1870^[1]; died in Leverkusen, 11 June 1944^[1]) was a music educator and singing instructor. She is best known for her work at the Bauhaus, where she taught from 1919 to 1923. Grunow developed *Harmonisierungslehre* (Theory of Harmonization), a philosophical approach to creativity and the body. Her theories drew from synesthesia, which considers the links between different senses, such as the "audibility" of colours. She also drew from the eurhythmics of Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, who developed methods for learning and experiencing music through movement. Grunow's method aimed to integrate the senses through movement exercises and the perception of synesthetic equivalences among sound, colour, form, and movement. She arranged her method around a circle with twelve points, corresponding to the chromatic scale. She allocated colours to these points, beginning with white in the south, and moving clockwise through terracotta, blue, magenta, blue-green, green, silver, red, grey, violet, brown, and yellow. Students were asked to imagine a coloured globe, and then to feel it with their hands, or to attune themselves to a note struck on the piano.
• Why are Aura Hertwig's works important today?+

  Aura Hertwig's works can be seen as part of a broader interest in abstract art. Some observers felt that abstract art contained a rhythmic element that could influence modern life in areas from commerce to medicine. Hilla Rebay, for example, wrote and taught about the spiritual dimensions and essences in abstract works. She felt that the perfection of balance was especially outstanding. Rebay's watercolours and collages, in particular, showed a finesse of design and texture. After World War II, the Bauhaus became a symbol for modernism. The Bauhaus artists contributed to this popularisation, but they also opposed its trivialisation. The Bauhaus name was increasingly applied to a wide range of enterprises and commodities, many with no real connection to the school itself. Despite this exploitation, there is renewed interest in the ethical values associated with the Bauhaus principles. This is not a return to functionalism, but an instance of an exemplary attitude.