Johannes Itten was the gatekeeper of the Bauhaus; those who applied for admission to the workshops had to face the scrutinizing eye of the Swiss painter and art theorist . The colour type theory founded by him is regarded as a milestone, the insights of which have had an impact far beyond the artworld to this day.
(...) Continue readingJohannes Itten – Training in education, student of Eugène Gillard and Adolf Hölzel
Johannes Itten was born in Wachseldorn in Switzerland on 11 November 1888. His parents were mountain farmers but wished a better career for their son – his father in particular urged him to train as a teacher. Johannes Itten agreed, without developing any real ambition, but the course opened up the prospect of an artistic occupation for him. His attendance at the art school in Geneva, however, ended in disappointment – Itten did not like the monotone exercises, the copying and tracing. Disillusioned, Itten abandoned the course and worked in the following years as a teacher of chemistry, mathematics and physics. The experience and skills he acquired doing so were to be of great use in his later work as an art teacher. However, Itten did not lose his fascination for art, and in 1912 tried for a second time at the Geneva art school, this time finding two teachers, Eugène Gillard and Adolf Hölzel, who succeeded in conveying the knowledge, inspiration and perspective that he had desired. In particular, the so-called “Hölzel circle” around Willi Baumeister, Ida Kerkovius, Oskar Schlemmer and Hermann Stenner occupied and fascinated him for a long time.
Bauhaus teacher, rift with Walter Gropius
The First World War forced Johannes Itten into exile where he initially set up his own school and also met Walter Gropius, who eventually brought him to his Bauhaus in Weimar. As one of the first teachers, Itten exerted a decisive influence and, together with Gertrud Grunow, was responsible for the preliminary course that all applicants to the Bauhaus workshops had to pass. Itten’s preference for Far Eastern esotericism and mysticism led to ongoing disputes with Walter Gropius and the Swiss artist eventually left the Bauhaus, joined the syncretic Mazdaznan community and founded further schools. In Berlin he taught later greats of the art and cultural sector such as Max Debus, Julius Pap, Fred Forbát and Georg Muche, and founded the artist group “Neues Pommern” with Gregor Rosenbauer. With the National Socialist takeover, the lively work of the artist was abruptly suspended – all of Itten’s schools were closed and the Mazdaznan movement was prohibited.
Emigration to Amsterdam, foundation of the colour type theory
In order to avoid further reprisals, Johannes Itten emigrated to the Netherlands where he lived for a short time in Amsterdam before taking over the direction of the Kunstgewerbeschule in Zurich in 1938. After the war he steered the fortunes of the Museum Rietberg from 1952 to 1956. In 1961, his main work, the epochal book “Art of Colour” saw the light of day in the enthusiastic art world. In it, Itten elaborated with complex subtlety the rudimentary theory established by his revered teacher Adolf Hölzel and refined it with his own research findings which he had gleaned, among other things, during his time at the Bauhaus in Weimar. The colour theory of Johannes Itten is taught still today in arts and crafts schools and is considered an important building block for colour type theory. Johannes Itten died on 25 March 1967 in Zurich.
Johannes Itten - Works that have already been sold at Kunsthaus Lempertz:
