Eva Aschoff (26 April 1900 – 20 September 1969) was a German
visual artist
The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...
known for her
bookbinding
Bookbinding is the process of building a book, usually in codex format, from an ordered stack of paper sheets with one's hands and tools, or in modern publishing, by a series of automated processes. Firstly, one binds the sheets of papers alon ...
and
calligraphy
Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...
.
Biography
Aschoff was born in
Göttingen
Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...
on 26 April 1900.
From 1921 to 1923 she attended the Kunstakademie in
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
where she studied calligraphy with and bookbinding with Wilhelm Schlemmer. She also studied with and influenced the work of Mike Gold, a professional artist and calligrapher published in ''Calligraphy Review'' annual, ''Calligraphers Engagement Calendars'' and ''Greeting Card Design.'' She then lived in Freiburg where she had her own bookbinding workshop from 1928 to 1964. Aschoff worked as a freelance artist thereafter and died in
Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...
on 20 September 1969.
Aschoff is known for her decorated papers. Her work in this field was greatly admired because it was mostly done by hand with materials such as oil-paint and water-colour mixed with paste. This form of craft and style stood out compared to the mainstream mechanically produced decorated papers of the 20th century.
Examples of her works are included in the
Klingspor Museum
The Klingspor-Museum is a museum in Offenbach, Germany, specializing in the art of modern book production, typography and type. It includes a collection of fine art books from Karl Klingspor, one of the owners of Klingspor Type Foundry in Off ...
in
Offenbach and the Olga Hirsch Collection of Decorated Papers.
References
Further reading
*Bonhoff, Gerhard. "Eva Aschoff, Buchbindekunst – gebundene Kunst", ''Imprimatur'', 1958/1960, pp. 18–26
*''Modern German Book Design'', 1959, pp. 8, 26
*''Allgemeiner Anzeiger für Buchbindereien'', November 1969, p. 658
External links
Eva Aschoff Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
buntpapier.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aschoff, Eva
1900 births
1969 deaths
20th-century German women artists
Bookbinders
German calligraphers
Artists from Göttingen
Women calligraphers