Maria May
Maria May | |
---|---|
Born | Germany | 24 September 1900
Died | 28 October 1968 | (aged 68)
Alma mater | Kunstschule, Berlin |
Occupation(s) | Dextiles Designer Interiors Designer Teacher University-level professor |
Spouse | ____ Bernatzik |
Maria May (24 September 1900 - 28 October 1968) was a German textiles designer with commercial flair. The scope of her output also embraced other forms of large-format wall art such as mosaics and posters. High-profile commissions included the large mosaic, "Tiefsee" ("Deep sea") she produced for the ball room of newly built ocean liner SS Bremen (1928) and a large set of sprayed silk wall tapestries that she produced in collaboration with Otto Arpke for the cabin interiors of the LZ 129 Hindenburg airship. Between 1956 and 1966 she served as head of the "Meisterschule für Mode" (Fashion Academy) in Hamburg.[1][2][3]
Life
Provenance and early years
Maria May was born (and just over sixty-eight years later died) in Berlin.[1] Her parents came originally from Schleswig-Holstein (near the border with Denmark). She numbered "blue-dyers" (of fabrics) among her ancestors. Her father had worked on the ships for a time.[2]
Between teaching and commerce
She attended the state arts college in Berlin[2] and in 1921 passed her art teaching exams with distinction, and took a teaching position at Berlin's prestigious Reimann School of Arts and Design.[3] She took charge of the class in textiles design and also of the course that she set up for design and decorative painting, which encompassed patterned fabric painting, wall-screen painting and glass painting techniques.[1] Through her collaborative work with I. G. Farbenindustrie she was able to introduce pioneering techniques in her courses in respect of fabric dying and printing, injection printing, batik, along with stencil work on fabrics and leathers.[1] May continued to teach at the Reimann School till 1931, and retained close ties to it in the years that followed. Beyond the school gates she became increasingly well known through her development work in the schools studios, notably following her introduction in 1926 of so-called "Maria May-Stoffe" and "Maria May-Tapetten" (fabrics and carpets) which were taken on by several major manufacturers such as the venerable Rasch Brothers carpet factory. Maria May worked with Rasch for many years on designs for carpets, coverings and wallpapers.[3][4] "May-Stoffe" was the name used to market a fabric produced using innovative - and industrially applicable - injection printing techniques, and characterised by strong colours and figurative patterns.[3] Sources also cite purely geometric patterns, designs with global-urban motifs and others that struck a historical note.[5] Above all, the flexibility of May's techniques clearly facilitated a rich diversity of designs.
Between art and industry
By 1930 May was engaging increasingly in long-term contracts with her industrial clients, which coincided with a withdrawal from regular teaching commitments. He prominent mosaic on the ballroom wall on board the
Hitler years
After the war
On 21 May 1951 Maria May founded the
Final years
Following her retirement, in 1966 Maria May returned to the city of her birth. Berlin's political divisions being by this time matched by impenetrable physical divisions, she made her home in the city's western part. She died there just two years later.[9]
Personal
Most sources are silent about Marias May's personal life. However, one of them mentions her marriage, to a man called Bernatzik, which ended in divorce during the
References
- ^ a b c d Jutta Beder (author-compiler) [in German]. "May, Maria". Lexikon der Textildesigner 1950 - 2000. Universitätsbibliothek Paderborn. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
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has generic name (help) - ^ a b c d "Maria May: deutsche Designerin; Direktorin der Meisterschule für Mode in Hamburg". Internationales Biographisches Archiv 11/1961. Munzinger-Archiv GmbH, Ravensburg. 6 March 1961. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Maria May - Eine Frau im Wandel" (PDF). Wie wir wurden, was wir sind: Rueckblicke in die Geschichte der Modeausbildung an der Fachhichschule Hamburg .... Persönlichkeiten an der Hochschule. Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften Hamburg. 2008. p. 29. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
- ^ Hanna Elisabeth Koch (16 January 2015). ""Schönheit hat heute einen neuen Sinn" –Zum westdeutschen Design der 1950er Jahre am Beispiel der Tapetenindustrie" (Document). Philosophische Fakultät der Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Freiburg i. Br.
- ^ ISBN 978-3-86858-475-2, pp. 154–170.
- ^ "... Berlin Shown at Art Center Under Auspices of Art Alliance of America". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York. 7 December 1930. p. 61. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
- ^ "Karl Vogelsang". Cooper Hewitt Labs., NY. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
- ^ ISBN 1-85973-400-6. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
- ^ a b c d e Rita Bake. "Maria May". Textildesignerin, Leiterin der Meisterschule für Mode in Hamburg, Elbchaussee 352 (Wohnadresse), Meisterschule für Mode, heute: Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften, Fakultät Design, Medien und Information (DMI). hamburg.de GmbH & Co. KG. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
- ^ Hanns Braun, "Triumph der Mode,"Stuttgarter Neues Tagblatt (November 28, 1940)
- ^ Robert M.W. Kempner: Das Dritte Reich im Kreuzverhoer; Muenchen 2005
- ^ Stefan Aust (7 May 2015). "Die verschwundenen Schätze der Nazis". Geld, Gemälde und Gold der NS-Größen sind seit Jahrzehnten Stoffe für Mythen und Spekulationen. Immer wieder gibt es neue Spuren – nun auch in der Schweiz ... Axel Springer SE (WeltN24 GmbH), Berlin. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
- ^ "Hamburg, Tor zur Kunst". Bemerkungen zu einer Schüler- Ausstellung. Die Zeit (online). 8 July 1948. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
- ^ "Unsere Geschichte". Business and Professional Women (BPW) Germany. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
- ^ "Die Geschichte des BPW von 1950 -1960". BPW Germany, Club Mannheim-Ludwigshafen e.V. Retrieved 22 July 2020.