August Kulche
August Kulche (born April 22, 1927 in Tilburg , Netherlands) is a bookbinder , book cover designer and book artist who lives in Belgium .
life and work
August Kulche is the son of the painter , sculptor and glass engraver August Wilhelm Kulche (1894–1988).
After studying art and bookbinding in Paris , he gained his first professional experience in collaboration with the bookbinders Colette and Jean-Paul Miguette in the Bibliothèque nationale de France . Decisive for his further artistic path was from 1940 to 1946 studying with the cover designer and gilder Jules Karl van West (1889–1969) and traveling together with the book historian Luc Indestege (1901–1974) to the ancient art treasures of Italy . From 1953 he worked in Brussels , from where he had contacts with the most important binding artists of his time such as Paul Bonet (1889–1971) and Micheline de Bellefroid (1927–2008).
After the Second World War, this also included bookbinders in England , Spain and the USA . His efforts to rebuild his binding work in Germany were particularly intense , where he had contacts with Günter Krickler at the Folkwang School in Essen , and with Sonnfriede Schoy and Gotthilf Kurz in Munich and later with the bookbinder Hans-Peter Fröhlich in Stuttgart. As a lecturer, he was involved in the bookbinding training at the bookbinding college in Bad Cannstatt .
Before that, August Kulche was a jury member at the Brussels art academy La Cambre-Arts viseuls and in 1983 he was involved in the founding and subsequent international functioning of the Bibliotheca Wittockiana Brussels.
Due to the close cooperation with the International Association of Masters of Binding Art (MDE), he was initially elected Vice President and from 1997 to 2000 its President. He played a key role in the revitalization of this traditional German bookbinding association founded in Leipzig in 1923.
After organizing and participating in international bookbinding events in Ghent and Brighton , August Kulche was able to provide an overview of “European binding art from 1970 to 2000” in 2001 in collaboration with the Maximilian Society with an exhibition in the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz.
In his cover work, August Kulche is concerned with the influence of the modern visual arts on the current cover design in the form of intense colors, which he tests in variable shapes. At the same time he allows historical traditions of the bookbinding profession and memories of its most important representatives to flow into his work. One of his students is the Belgian cover designer and teacher Edgar Claes (* 1924).
Exhibitions
- German book bindings of the Renaissance around Jakob Krause, court bookbinder August I of Saxony. Brussels, Leipzig, Stuttgart 1994/1995.
- Kulche-Kulche. Père-Vader and Fils-Zoon. Exposition de Bibliotheca Wittockiana Bruxelles 1995.
- Habits De Lumiere. Exposition de Bibliotheca Wittockiana Bruxelles 2017.
literature
- Pèleringe. A pilgrimage to the Klingspor Museum Offenbach. A conversation between August Kulche, Brussels and Helma Schaefer . Leipzig. In: MDE-Rundbrief 1.2 / 2016, pp. 12-19.
- Helma Schaefer: August Kulche and his concept for cover design. A successful exhibition in Paris . In: MDE circular . 3/2006 pp. 10-11.
- German renaissance book bindings around Jakob Krause, court bookbinder of Elector August I of Saxony . Brussels: Bibliotheca Wittockiana, 1994. Ed. by Konrad von Rabenau . With the collaboration of Susanne Rothe and Andreas Wittenberg.
Works
- Hymn à la reliure. Mémoires d'un relieur ou 75 ans de métier. Suivies par quelques textes sur la reliure internationale du XXe siècle et sur plusieurs de ses représentants . Bruxelles: Bibliotheca Wittockiana, 2014.
- with Annie De Coster: Master of the Binding Art - International Association. International MDE exhibition, Gutenberg Museum Mainz . February 3 - April 1, 2001. Aachen: Master of the Art of Binding, 2001.
- Thoughts following the exhibition “Maestri Rilegatori per l = Infonito” Macerata, Italy, September 12-30, 1998 . In: Einband-Forschung H. 6 (2000) p. 56.
- In 1997, the association "Les Amis de la Société de la Reliure Originale" organized its seventh competition. In: Einband-Forschung H. 2 (1999) S. 40.
- Deux écoles de reliure. Travaux récents des élèves de l'École Estienne, Paris et de La Cambre-Arts visuels, Bruxelles. Catalog descriptif par August Kulche et Georges Bernard . Brussels: Bibliotheca Wittockiana, 1991, ISBN 2-87305-025-X .
Web links
- Literature by and about August Kulche in the catalog of the German National Library
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kulche, August |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Dutch-Belgian bookbinder, book artist and cover designer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 22, 1927 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Tilburg , Netherlands |