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Otto Eckmann (19 November 1865 – 11 June 1902) was a German painter and graphic artist. He was a prominent member of the "floral" branch of
Jugendstil (; "Youth Style") was an artistic movement, particularly in the decorative arts, that was influential primarily in Germany, Austria and elsewhere in Europe to a lesser extent from about 1895 until about 1910. It was the German and Austrian cou ...
. He created the Eckmann typeface, which was based on Japanese
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 ...
and medieval font design.


Biography

Otto Eckmann was born in the
Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and 7th-largest in the European Union with a population of over 1.9 million. The Hamburg Metropolitan Region has a ...
, Germany in 1865. He studied at the
Kunstgewerbeschule A Kunstgewerbeschule (English: ''School of Arts and Crafts'' or S''chool of Applied Arts'') was a type of vocational arts school that existed in German-speaking countries from the mid-19th century. The term Werkkunstschule was also used for the ...
in Hamburg and
Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...
and at the academy in Munich. In 1894, Eckmann gave up painting (and auctioned off his works) in order to concentrate on applied design. He began producing graphic work for the magazines '' Pan'' in 1895 and Jugend which had roughly 20,000 readers every week in 1896. He also designed book covers for the publishers Cotta, Diederichs, Scherl and Seemann, as well as the
logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...
for the publishing house S. Fischer Verlag. Eckmann used
woodblock print Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later on paper. Each page or image is creat ...
for his work on Jugend magazine similar to japanese woodblock prints and later-adapted French styles. Eckmann's work differed from others in the
Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...
movement in that he used dimensionality in his designs, where most designers used a flat look Eckmann's work shows a clear background, middle-ground and foreground. In 1897 he taught ornamental painting at the Unterrichtsanstalt des Königlichen Kunstgewerbemuseums in Berlin. In 1899, he designed the logo for the magazine
Die Woche ' (, 'The Week') was an illustrated weekly newspaper published in Berlin from 1899 to 1944. Overview ''Die Woche'' reported on popular entertainment, including "sensationalist crime stories", and covered celebrities in sports and show business ...
. From 1900 to 1902, Eckmann did graphic work for the ''Allgemeine Elektrizitätsgesellschaft'' (
AEG The initials AEG are used for or may refer to: Common meanings * AEG (German company) ; AEG) was a German producer of electrical equipment. It was established in 1883 by Emil Rathenau as the ''Deutsche Edison-Gesellschaft für angewandte El ...
). During this time, he designed the fonts ''Eckmann'' (in 1900) and ''Fette Eckmann'' (in 1902), probably the most common Jugendstil fonts still in use. Eckmann was also proficient in tile design and furniture design. Eckmann died of the tuberculosis that had plagued him for years on 11 June 1902, at age 37 in
Badenweiler Badenweiler (High Alemannic: ''Badewiler'') is a health resort and spa in the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, historically in the Markgräflerland. It is 28 kilometers by road and rail from Basel, 10 kilome ...
, Germany.


Style and works

Otto Eckmann was skilled in many areas of art and design including tile, textile, embroidery, furniture, and painting. Eckmann worked as a painter from his education in 1865 to 1894 when he changed careers to focus on applied design. Few works from this time remain. Of what does remain there is pottery, painting, sculpture and textile. More works remain from after his shift to applied design. Eckmann's work as part of the
Arts and Crafts movement The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America. Initiat ...
,
Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...
, and its German counterpart jugendstil. Much of Eckmann's work depicted swans, as well as women. The latter was common for the Art Nouveau movement, however Eckmann's love of swans was more personal but expanded to all of jugendstil, becoming a common subject of works in the movement and serving as a symbol for it. Eckmann's work has been auctioned many times with prices ranging from US$216 to US$16,250."Otto Eckmann , Biography – MutualArt". Mutualart, Mutual Art, https://www.mutualart.com/Artist/Otto-Eckmann/2E703F60BFCE005A/Biography .


See also

*
List of German painters This is a list of German painters. A > second column was into info box --> * Hans von Aachen (1552–1615) * Aatifi (born 1965) * Karl Abt (painter), Karl Abt (1899–1985) * Tomma Abts (born 1967) * Andreas Achenbach (1815–1910) * Oswald ...
* Art Nouveau posters and graphic arts


References


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eckmann, Otto German typographers and type designers 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists German male painters 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists 1865 births 1902 deaths Art Nouveau painters Artists from Hamburg Academy of Fine Arts, Nuremberg alumni 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in Germany