{"id":6718,"date":"2014-12-30T00:07:17","date_gmt":"2014-12-30T00:07:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/soundslikewish.wordpress.com\/?p=6718"},"modified":"2014-12-30T00:07:17","modified_gmt":"2014-12-30T00:07:17","slug":"august-endell-in-praise-of-bark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/soundslikewish.org\/?p=6718","title":{"rendered":"August Endell: in praise of bark"},"content":{"rendered":"

I recently read a quotation by August Endell (1871 – 1925), a German self-taught architect who designed in the era of Jugendstil, or, in English and French, Art Nouveau.\u00a0 Here’s what he said in Berliner Architekturwelt<\/em>, volume 4, 1902:<\/p>\n

“I believe it is not generally known that, in the bark of our own native trees, we possess the most rapturous symphonies of colour that a painter could ever dream of.\u00a0 After rain, for example, when the colours are luminous and fresh, the richest and most wonderful motifs are to be found there.\u00a0 You need to go right up to the trunk and look hard at small areas the size of your palm.\u00a0 Strong colours alternate one with another.\u00a0 Velvety violet,<\/em>\"Young<\/p>\n

fiery yellowy-red,<\/em>\"yellow-red<\/p>\n

grey with a blue shimmer,<\/em>\"Willow-leafbright green,<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Maple<\/p>\n

<\/del>– the widest possible range of colour nuances are found in a rich spectrum in the boldest contrasts.\u00a0 Only when you have studied the colours of bark close up can you appreciate why tree trunks have such luminous colours from afar.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Eucalypt<\/p>\n

The individual colours are garish and unbroken, but because they lie so close together in such small blotches, they tone each other down without losing their effect.”<\/em><\/p>\n

August Endell’s first commission was for the Hof-Atelier Elvira, a photography studio in Munich, built and decorated in 1896-97.\u00a0 The interior decor was highly individual, even bizarre, but partly reflected Endell’s belief that ‘the most wonderful motifs’ are to be found on tree bark.\u00a0 Look, for example, at the studio staircase, to see how the organic pattern resembles the cracks in bark:<\/p>\n