The Dutchman Mart Stam is one of the most important architects and designers of modernism. In the 1920s, he worked in Germany and taught at the Bauhaus in Dessau. During this time, Marianne Brandt (1893-1983) developed onsite models for lamps and tableware as head of the metal workshop. The product designs by the Chemnitz-born photographer, painter and sculptor are amongst the design classics.
After the Second World War, Mart Stam wanted to revive the Bauhaus tradition in the destroyed city of Dresden. In 1948, he appointed Brandt to the later Academy of Fine Arts, which he headed. In a telegram dated the 8th December 1948, he invited the artist in a few words to contact him at Güntzstraße 34. Brandt was living in her hometown of Chemnitz at the time and was unemployed. She accepted the invitation and moved to Dresden, where she taught wood, metal and ceramics from 1949 to 1951. Disputes about the artistic orientation in the GDR led to both of them transferring to the Hochschule Berlin-Weißensee. Stam left Berlin again in 1952, Brandt returned to Karl-Marx-Stadt (Chemnitz) in 1954.
Stam's telegram to Marianne Brandt has fortunately been preserved. It is an inconspicuous yet impressive document of the eventful history of the 20th century and the political dimensions of the archive.
Text: Patrick Wilden, Freelance Inventory Recording
- Museum
- Archiv der Avantgarden
- Inventory number
- A 1/Bau 22, 26