Alfred Finsterer
Alfred Finsterer (born June 8, 1908 in Nuremberg , † January 25, 1996 in Stuttgart ) was a German painter , graphic artist and typographer .
Life
After training as an industrial graphic designer at the Nuremberg School of Applied Arts with Rudolf Schiestl, he initially worked as a graphic designer. In 1935 he was selected as one of ten German artists to exhibit at the Chicago International Exhibition. In the same year he was appointed lecturer at the Academy for Graphic Arts and Book Industry in Leipzig , where he was professor and head of the master class for woodcut from 1939 to 1945 . A fire in the academy completely destroyed his studio and the works stored there.
From 1946 he worked in the publishing industry. Initially from 1946 to 1947 as an editor for magazines and responsible for the book equipment at Sebaldus Verlag, Nuremberg. From 1947 to 1973 Finsterer was artistic director of the Philipp Reclam jun. Publishing house in Stuttgart. At the same time, he worked in an advisory capacity from 1952 to 1957 for the Gebrüder Klingspor type foundry in Offenbach / Main, for which he also designed fonts. In addition, illustrations in handwriting samples came from his hand. From 1957 to 1973 he also worked for the Belser printing and publishing house in Stuttgart. In addition, he took on book equipment for the publishers Kröner, Artemis, Brockhaus, Hirsemann and Suhrkamp.
He increasingly turned to book graphics, beginning in 1960 his first attempts at metal printing and the production of large-format color etchings . In 1984 he designed the cover for the quarterly Philobiblon. A quarterly for book and graphic collectors .
He was married to Gerda Finsterer-Stuber.
Finsterer's works can be found in the Klingspor Museum in Offenbach am Main, the municipal art collections Galerie Albstadt , the Städtische Galerie Stuttgart, the graphic collection of the city of Nuremberg , the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart and the ETH Zurich .
Awards
- 1928, 1935 and 1938 Dürer scholarships from the city of Nuremberg
- 1937 silver medal at the Paris World Exhibition
- 1989 Cross of Merit on Ribbon of the Federal Republic of Germany
Works (selection)
- Four serious chants by Johannes Brahms . Etchings by Alfred Finsterer. Aldus-Presse, Reicheneck, 1994
- Colored graphics of our time . (Editor), Belser, Stuttgart, 1960
- Hoffmann's writing atlas. Selected alphabets and applications from the past and present . Hoffmann, Stuttgart, 1952
- Font designs
| Font name | First casting | Type foundry |
|---|---|---|
| DUO light | 1954 | Klingspor brothers |
| DUO dark | 1954 | Klingspor brothers |
| Figura | 1954 | Klingspor brothers |
| Titula | 1956 | unpublished private writing |
Exhibitions (selection)
- Berlin, 1934
- Chicago, 1935
- World Exhibition Paris 1937
- House of German Art , Munich, 1937
- China, 1937
- Municipal Museum of Lake Constance, Friedrichshafen, retrospective, 1976
- Gutenberg Museum , Mainz, 1980
- Klingspor Museum, Offenbach a. M., 1983
- City History Museum, Nuremberg, 1988/1989
- Städtische Galerie Albstadt, drawings and etchings, 1990
- Klingspor Museum: upheaval. Art of beautiful writing , Offenbach am Main, exhibition with works from the artist's estate, 2006
literature
- Robert Thoms: Great German Art Exhibition Munich 1937-1944 . Directory of artists in two volumes, Volume I: painter and graphic artist. Berlin, 2010, ISBN 978-3-937294-01-8
- Catalog of the Klingspor Museum: Alfred Finsterer - graphics as life lines . Offenbach 2006
- Heimo Ertl (ed.): Alfred Finsterer, graphics for the Bible: color etchings, etchings, montage prints; Catalog raisonné from 1988 - 1994 . Oehler Medien, Ötisheim, 1994, ISBN 3929551861
- Alfred Finsterer - Drawings and Etchings: Exhibition Catalog . Municipal gallery Albstadt, 1990
- Alfred Finsterer, prints: color etchings, etchings, mounting prints 1979 - 1988 . Carl Verlag, Nuremberg, 1988
- Paul Quensel: Alfred Finsterer. Thoughts about his life and work . Belser, Stuttgart, 1979
- Alfred Finsterer. Color etchings, gouaches, drawings . Municipal Museum of Lake Constance, Friedrichshafen, 1976
Web links
- Klingspor Museum PDF, 108 kB
- Website of the Alfred Finsterer family
- German graphic designers during the Hitler period: Alfred Finsterer
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Darker, Alfred |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German painter, graphic artist and typographer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 8, 1908 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Nuremberg |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 25, 1996 |
| Place of death | Stuttgart |