Reseña

The fabrics in Gunta Stölzl loom are characterised for the intricate artisanal work they required and the great variety of knots used. Her carpets emit rhythm and an accurate composition, and are not limited to a lineal or vertical scheme. There are figurative motifs, such as cows in a field, or religious iconography. But, fundamentally, Gunta introduces abstract art in textile, highly influenced by Johannes Itten, one of her teachers, in the use of colours and contrasts. 

Justificaciones

• She is one of the most important figures in the Bauhaus, both because she was an excellent alumna and because she became a teacher and director at the textile workshops in the school's headquarters in Dessau.
• She was one of the most relevant women in the school because of her creativity, commitment, and organisation skills, as well as for her affinity with cloth and textiles.
• She was one of the most relevant women in the school because of her creativity, commitment, and organisation skills, as well as for her affinity with cloth and textiles.

Biografía

Gunta Stölzl studied decorative painting, painting on glass, ceramics, art history and stylistics at the School of Applied Arts in Munich, between 1914 and 1916. During the war, between 1916 and 1918, she worked as a Red Cross nurse. 
In 1919, after coming back for a short period of time to the School of Applied Arts in Munich, she started her studies at the Bauhaus school in Weimar, the first headquarters of the school. In the winter 1919, 1920, Gunta was accepted in the preliminary course taught by Johannes Itten, the glass painting workshop and the mural painting workshop directed by Itten himself and Helene Börner. 
Between 1921 and 1925 she practised in the textile workshop with Georg Muche and had lessons on colour theory with Johannes Itten, on visual thought with Paul Klee and on abstraction with Wassily Kandinsky. These three teachers had a great influence on Gunta. 
After she was made "official" (as a teacher) in the Bauhaus, and before she joined the teaching staff, Gunta Stölzl lived in Zurich, where she organised the Ontos textile workshops in 1924, as commanded by Johannes Itten, where she also developed some dyeing techniques. Her work was characterised by applying the aesthetic principles of the Bauhaus: constant experimentation with textile materials to obtain new, resistant, cheap fabrics that were made even cheaper when mass-produced so that the works could be assimilated into the industrial process. It had, probably, a greater relevance that other Bauhaus experiences. 
From 1925 to 1926, Stölzl was teacher of shaping in the textile workshop in the Bauhaus in Dessau. She would then become its director from October 1925 to September 1931. 
Among her projects, Gunta Stölzl developed tapestries, carpets and dustsheets for some furniture designed by Marcel Breuer at Bauhaus Dessau, as well as seats for particular chairs, such as the African chair. 
In 1928 she travelled to Moscow with other members of the Bauhaus to participate in the Vkhutemas, the Russian state art and technical school.  
In 1929, she married Arieh Sharon, a Jewish Bauhaus student from Palestine, and they had a daughter, Yael, that same year.  
Due to the harassment she received by Nazis at the Bauhaus after marrying a Jewish man, Miles van der Rohe, then director of the school, asked for Gunta's resignation in 1931. She was replaced by Lilly Reich. After she left the Bauhaus in Dessau, she moved to Switzerland.  
In 1932 she founded the hand-made textile company S-P-H-Stoffe in Zurich with Gertrud Preiswerk and Heinrich-Otto Hürlimann, both former students at the Bauhaus. In 1933, they had to close due to some financial problems, but Stölzl and Hürlimann continued managing the company under the name S-H-Stoffe. 
In 1936, Gunta divorced Arieh Sharon and in 1937 she received the Commemorative Diploma in Paris World Exhibition. That same year, Hürlimann left the company and Gunta renamed it Sh-Stoffe.  
In 1942, she married the Swiss writer Willy Stadler, and got the Swiss nationality. In 1943, her second daughter, Monika Agnes, was born. In the following years, the interest for Gunta's work increased. In 1967, she quit the workshop and decided to focus on individual tapestries. 
In the 36 years that Gunta run her workshops, her pieces were highly valued by avant-garde architects and awarded in multiple international competitions. She also received numerous commissions. 
She was an active artist until her death in 1983: she participated in the Society of Swiss Women Painters, Sculptors and Craftswomen and in the Werkbund association. 

Obras

Inglés

• Textiles from the Bauhaus Weimar, Bauhaus Dessau and Zurich II periods.

Español

• Textiles del período Bauhaus Weimar, Bauhaus Dessau y último período ZurichII

Bibliografía

Redondo, María. “Gunta Stölzl, profesora y directora del taller textil de la Bauhaus” 11/11/2021, in Metalocus, <https://www.metalocus.es/es/noticias/gunta-stolzl-profesora-y-directora-del-taller-textil-de-la-bauhaus> 
La Web de las Biografías, 11/11/2021, (online, <http://www.mcnbiografias.com/app-bio/do/show?key=stolzl-gunta>) 
 
Gunta Stölzl, 11/11/2021, <https://www.guntastolzl.org/> 
 
Wortmann Weltge, Sigrid. “Gunta Stölzl”, 11/11/2021, (online,  
<https://www.guntastolzl.org/Literature/Articles-and-Essays/Empty-2/i-rzRQWLc>) 
 
Catalán Bueno, Alejandro; Lara Barahona-Ostos, Miguel; Montoro Poza, Manuela. “100 años de la BAUHAUS – GUNTA STOLZL”, 11/11/2021, in Universidad de Alcalá, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giU5UD8lkw0> 
 
Barbican Centre 
“Bauhaus: Art as Life - Gunta Stölzl: A Daughter's Perspective”, 11/11/2021, in Barbican Centre, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HWDWr1RKe8> 

Enfoque Didáctico

This sheet for author can be studied in the following fields and subjects:

Visual and plastic arts

Design

Architecture

Art 

Documentos