Karl Albert Pfänder

Karl Albert Pfänder (born December 22, 1906 in Beuren ; † April 16, 1990 in Reutlingen ) was a German artist. He worked as a wood sculptor and art turner as well as a designer for wood products.

Life

As the son of a shoemaker and farmer, he learned to be a turner in Nürtingen from 1921 . The first exhibition in Miltenberg followed in 1926 with woodwork and charcoal drawings . From 1928 he attended the "Kunstgewerbeschule Stuttgart" and from 1930 he participated in annual exhibitions at the Landesgewerbemuseum Stuttgart , Grassi Museum Leipzig , Haus der Kunst in Munich , Hamburg, Berlin and other places. In 1931 he passed his master craftsman examination.

From 1940 to 1946 he was in military service and in captivity. From 1948 he worked as an industrial designer at the wood goods factory in Bischoff (Reichenbach / Fils) and Holzelfingen (Swabian Alb). In 1961, Pfänder founded his own workshop for artistic and handcrafted woodwork, and he continued to work as a designer for wood products. In 1962 he became a member of the "Association of Craftsmen Baden-Württemberg". In 1967 he received the "Predicate of Good Form" at the "International Frankfurt Fair" for industrial products he designed and in 1972 the " State Prize of the State of Baden-Württemberg ". In 1974, after his retirement, he expanded his workshop for wood design and design in Reutlingen. He made his first attempts with woodcuts. In contrast to the usual woodcuts, which are cut in the longitudinal shape of a board, Pfänder produced woodcuts in the transverse shape (i.e. in the wooden disc). He consciously integrated the external shape of a tree with its distinctive annual rings into his design.

Karl Albert Pfänder died on April 16, 1990 in Reutlingen. In 1993, former companions founded the "Karl Albert Pfänder Society eV - KAP"

Works

The design language of KA Pfänder is mainly characterized by the reduction to the essentials. His great role models were Hans Arp and Ernst Barlach and nature. For him, the creative in nature was the source of his work and his world of thought. He also dealt with wall sculptures in the form of wood collages and woodcuts. His products designed for the wood industry can be stylistically assigned to the 1960s and 1970s . You can see very well the interrelationships between the desires of the New Objectivity of the 1920s and 1930s and the creative character of a craftsmanship a. based on the "Art and Crafts Movement".

His works are in public and private collections.

Web links

• The website of the Karl Albert Pfänder Association