Hans Michel (graphic artist)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hans Michel, 1976

Hans Michel (born August 14, 1920 in Weimar ; † June 7, 1996 in Hamburg ) was a German graphic and graphic designer , known for his poster art .

Life and origin

Hans Michel was born the son of the artist couple Ella Bergmann-Michel (1895–1971) and Robert Michel (1897–1983). Both are among the constructivists and are considered to be pioneers of image collage. Hans Michel grew up in Eppstein- Vockenhausen im Taunus, where his parents set up their studios in the family's own mill "die Schmelz" in the early 1920s. At the same time, the Eppstein smelting mill was the meeting point of a large circle of friends of artists, including Kurt Schwitters , Willi Baumeister , László Moholy-Nagy , Jan Tschichold , Hans Richter , El Lissitzky , Joris Ivens and Dziga Vertov . In preparation for an engineering degree, Hans Michel began an apprenticeship as a locksmith in 1937, which was broken off in 1939 due to military service. At the end of the war he was taken prisoner by the Americans. In 1947 he began studying wall painting, lithography and commercial graphics at the Werkkunstschule Offenbach am Main . During his studies he worked as a freelance graphic artist in Offenbach in a studio community with Günther Kieser.

In 1963, Hans Michel was appointed professor of commercial graphics at the Hamburg University of Fine Arts . In 1971 he married the artist Sünke Michel. 1971 son Philipp Michel was born. Hans Michel died on June 7, 1996 in Hamburg.

Studio community Michel + Kieser

Poster for the 7th German Jazz Festival 1960
Movie poster "The Killer of Alabama", 1964

With fellow student Günther Kieser (* 1930), Hans Michel founded a studio community in Offenbach / Main (1953–1964). Hans Michel and Günther Kieser advised each other, but worked independently. They drew their work with “ Michel + Kieser ”. Nevertheless, most of the work can be clearly assigned to Hans Michel or Günther Kieser. Her graphic work includes posters, brochures, books, programs, record sleeves, postage stamps, advertisements, signets and exhibition design. They worked for Hessischer Rundfunk , Deutsche Bundespost , the city of Frankfurt , the concert agency Lippmann + Rau , for Atlas-Film, Neue FilmKunst, the Expo in Frankfurt a. M. and others. They designed appearances for theater, concerts, film, radio, municipal facilities, trade fairs and the pharmaceutical industry.

Poster exhibitions: 1957 Triennale in Milan; 1958 Photokina Cologne (distinction), 1958 Dublin, 1959 Hilversum, 1959 Baghdad, 1960 New Delhi, 1960 s'Hertogenbosch; "The best German poster": 1958 Bamberg, 1959 Munich, 1960 Bremen; 1964 Documenta III Kassel; 1988/89 Kassel, Frankfurt a. M., Wetzlar, Bensheim, Fulda, Wiesbaden; 2007 Filmmuseum Düsseldorf , 2007/2008 German Filmmuseum Frankfurt a. M.

Publications: "camera"; "Graphis"; “Usage graphics”, “Graphis-Annual”, “Werk und Zeit”, “The Polygraph”, “Idea”, “Impact”, various daily newspapers and the like. a .; Catalog “Program in the Poster”; “FilmKunstGrafik” catalog; Atlas film booklets; "Kiel Week".

Work assigned to Hans Michel (selection)

  • 1956 Basic form of the "post horn" (without arrows) still valid today on behalf of the German Federal Post Office .
  • About a year later: the logo for the "public telephones".
  • 1961/62 “Important Germans” stamp series (16 items ) for the German Federal Post Office.
  • 1960 Design of the books "movens" and "Frankfurt und seine Theater"
  • 1963 Design of the photo book “Großstadt” (for the photographer and friend Abisag Tüllmann ).
Postage stamp designs

Group "novum"

In 1958 the later influential group "novum", a company for "new graphics mbH", was founded. The founding members were: Karl Oskar Blase , Dorothea Fischer-Nosbisch , Fritz Fischer , Hans Hillmann , Günther Kieser, Helmut Lortz , Hans Michel, Erika Müller and Wolfgang Schmidt . In 1960 the group “novum” exhibited their work in the Landesmuseum Darmstadt and in 1962 in the Kasseler Kunstverein. In 1961, Hans Michel and Günther Kieser, together with novum members, designed the German department on the subject of “Vocational Training in the FRG” for the World Exhibition in Turin .

Professorship in Hamburg

Sünke and Hans Michel, Hamburg University of Fine Arts seminar, mid-1970s

In 1963, Hans Michel became a professor for commercial graphics at the University of Fine Arts in Hamburg (publication of student work). Together with Kurd Alsleben , Hans Andree , Kilian Breier , Mathias Lehnhardt and Gerd Roscher , he founded the “Visual Communication Department” in the early 1970s in order to set up interdisciplinary project studies in the media network.

Study projects (together with Hans Andree, 1966–1974 assistant): including the “Bauzaunprojekt am Jungfernstieg” in 1968, the development of visuals for the “Hamburger Bautage” in 1969, the “Numerus Clausus” project in 1970. In 1970, the students received the Lichtwark scholarship ( Lichtwark Prize ). 1972 Design of the exhibition “Olympiade 72” in the Museum of Art and Industry Hamburg in collaboration with Herbert Hoffmann .

Further study projects: 1979 wall newspaper and book “Citizens' Initiative for the Preservation of the Finkenau Women's Clinic”, 1982 ten posters for the “Doctors against Nuclear War”, 1983 “Peace Calendar”. Other projects: see Materialverlag der HfbK, catalog.

Studio community Sünke + Michel

Exhibition poster "Ottensen. On the history of a district", 1982

Since 1970, Hans Michel worked together with Sünke Michel (artist * 1942) in a studio community (they drew their work with Sünke + Michel). I.a. posters were created for the municipal cinema and the Hamburg Labor Museum , the Lüneburg City Theater, the Ottensen district archive, the Karl Schneider exhibition in the Museum of Arts and Crafts and “Child labor is prohibited” for the occupational safety exhibition in Dortmund (DASA).

Other projects : including 1978 contribution to the educational concept "We are looking for ways", 1980 exhibition boards and portfolio as part of the "Dulsberg project": "From socialist hope to the petty bourgeoisie" (in collaboration with Goerd Peschken , Eberhard Pook and Dieter Mielke), 1981 Book and audio slide show: "Bankruptcy of the ship propeller factory Theodor Zeise" (together with the photographer Dieter Mielke), 1979/80/81 artistic actions in urban areas to support trade unions, artists for peace, citizens' initiatives and demonstrations, etc. a with dragons coupled one behind the other as a font carrier.

Publications: "Who's Who in Graphic Art" from 1982; “Projekt” issue 1 from 1990; "FilmArtGraphic"

Collection holdings

Posters by Michel + Kieser and Sünke + Michel can be found in the collections of the following museums: Muzeum Plakatu w Wilanowie , Warsaw / Museum of Design , Zurich / German Poster Museum , Essen / Werkbundarchiv , Berlin / Art Library, State Museums in Berlin - Prussian Cultural Heritage, Berlin / Germanisches Nationalmuseum , Nuremberg / Museum of Arts and Crafts , Hamburg / Sprengel Museum , Hanover / Museum of Labor , Hamburg / Stedelijk Museum , Amsterdam.

literature

  • novumgraphik. Karl Oskar Blase, Dorothea + Fritz Fischer Nosbisch, Hans Hillmann, Helmut Lortz, Hans Michel + Günther Kieser, Erika Müller, Wolfgang Schmidt. (Catalog for the exhibition in the Hess. Landesmuseum, Darmstadt, from November 5 to December 26, 1960)
  • documenta III. International exhibition. Catalog: Volume 1: Painting and Sculpture; Volume 2: Hand Drawings; Volume 3: Industrial Design, Graphics; Kassel / Cologne 1964
  • "25 years of film posters in Germany, 1950–1975", catalog for the exhibition (July – August 1975), Berlin Art Library, State Museums of Prussian Cultural Heritage (on the occasion of the 25th Berlin International Film Festival)

Web links

Commons : Hans Michel  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Stamp design by Michel and Kieser for the Deutsche Bundespost  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b "novumgraphik" exhibition catalog, Hessian State Museum (ed.), Darmstadt 1960, p.56.
  2. ^ A b "Program in the poster, 40 years of Hessischer Rundfunk", catalog and exhibition, Hessischer Rundfunk (ed.), Frankfurt a. M. 1988.
  3. ↑ "FilmKunstGrafik", German Filmmuseum Frankfurt a. M., 2007.
  4. ↑ “Film-Plakate heute”, “Camera”, No. 5, 1966, p. 40ff.
  5. ↑ "Hessischer Rundfunk", "Graphis", No. 129, 1967, p. 60ff "
  6. ↑ "novumgraphik" exhibition catalog, Hessian State Museum (ed.), Darmstadt 1960, p 54/55.
  7. ^ "FilmKunstGrafik. A book on the new German film graphics of the sixties ”, catalog for the exhibition, Deutsches Filmmuseum Frankfurt a. M. (Ed.), Frankfurt a. M. 2007, p. 250ff.
  8. ↑ "100 Filmplakate", Atlas Film (ed.), Duisburg 1965.
  9. ^ "Kieler Woche", "History of a Design Competition"; Jens Müller and Karen Weiland (eds.); Lars Müller Publishers, 2010; P. 3, P. 28, P. 112, P. 119.
  10. ↑ "movens". Documents and analyzes on poetry, fine arts, music, architecture. Franz Mon (Ed.), Limes Verlag, Wiesbaden 1960
  11. ^ "Frankfurt and his theater", Waldemar Kramer publishing house, 1960
  12. ↑ "Big City". Abisag Tüllmann (photos), Richard Kirn (text), 294 photos from Frankfurt, Societäts-Verlag, Frankfurt a. M., 1963.
  13. ↑ "novumgraphik" Hessian State Museum (ed.), Darmstadt 1960
  14. ↑ "novumgraphik" exhibition catalog, Kassel Kunstverein, Kassel 1962
  15. ↑ "International Labor Exhibition Turin 1961", "The Contribution of the Federal Republic of Germany", Federal Minister for Labor and Social Affairs (Ed.), Undated
  16. ^ "Format", magazine for visual communication, "topic training", 4th quarter 1967, p. 46ff. (Review of Hans Michels on the first years at the HfbK.) In the same issue: Hans Michel "Orientation in Stadtbahnverkehr". Concept for an orientation system for the Frankfurt Stadtbahn (together with Wolfgang Schmidt) p. 26ff.
  17. ^ "Material" 5, 12, 15, 21, Study Reform Commission (ed.), Materialverlag HfbK, 1972–1977
  18. ^ "Citizens' Initiative for the Preservation of the Finkenau Women's Clinic", material 27, Materialverlag HfbK, 1979
  19. ^ "Calendar sheets", material 50, Materialverlag HfbK, 1983
  20. ^ "We're looking for ways", Department of Visual Communication (Ed.), Material 34, Materialverlag HfbK, 1978
  21. ^ "From socialist hope to the world of petty bourgeoisie", material 42b, Materialverlag HfbK, 1980
  22. ^ "Zeise – Konkurs", Adolff Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Hamburg Altona 1981
  23. ↑ “Who's who in Graphic Art” Vol. 2, edited by Walter Amstutz, De Clivo Press Dübendorf Switzerland, 1982, p. 286
  24. ↑ "project". "Sztuka Wizualna i Projektowania Viszal art Et Design", issue 1, 1990, p. 50ff
  25. ^ "Film, Art, Graphics". Exhibition catalog of the Deutsches Filmmuseum, Frankfurt a. M., 1970, pp. 250ff.
personal data
SURNAME Michel, Hans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German graphic artist
DATE OF BIRTH August 14, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Weimar
DATE OF DEATH June 7, 1996
Place of death Hamburg