Luise Harkort

Luise Auguste Harkort (born March 29, 1886 in New York , † July 21, 1966 in Nuremberg ) was a German ceramist . In the 1920s she designed numerous vessels and decorations that were manufactured in the Velten-Vordamm stoneware factory , whose founder was her husband Hermann Harkort (1881–1970).

life and work

Luise Laporte was born in New York in 1886 as the daughter of Georg and Adele Laporte. On April 21, 1908, she married the entrepreneur Hermann Harkort (1881–1970). The couple had four children: Hans-Joachim (* 1910), Dietrich (* 1912), Brigitte (* 1915) and Günther (* 1919).

Foot shell with geometric decor
Luise Harkort , 1920s
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Link to the picture (please note copyrights )

At the beginning of the 1920s, Luise Harkort began her artistic work for the Velten-Vordamm stoneware factory, which her husband had taken over in 1908 and switched to the production of pottery after 1919. First she designed flowers and leaf still lifes made of clay, covered with glowing enamel glazes , which were influenced by the faiences of the 18th century. After setting up an artist's workshop, individual pieces were made using the faience technique in Velten. Luise Harkort created numerous services, vases, bowls, boxes and desk sets, which she varied freely in decor and shape.

Luise Harkort was a member of the German Werkbund . Working with Theodor Bogler , who trained at the Bauhaus and at the ceramic workshop of the State Bauhaus in Dornburg , she developed a geometric design language in her ceramic shapes and decors from the mid-1920s. Bogler had taken over the management of the artist workshop in Velten in 1925 and designed numerous vessels together with Luise Harkort. Else Dörr, Antonie Mutter and Walter Stock worked alongside her in the department for artistic ceramics in Velten. The company's products were sold in Germany and abroad, especially in America .

As a result of the global economic crisis , the company had to cease operations in 1931 and Luise Harkort ended her artistic career. In the 1930s she worked with her husband in the company Dr. Heinrich Göckel in Berlin , who manufactured chemical apparatus. After the Second World War , she opened a company for scientific and medical laboratory equipment in Berlin-Wannsee in 1948 .

Luise Harkort died on July 21, 1966 in Nuremberg.

Luise Harkort's work, especially the vessels with geometric decorations, are shown in numerous art and design museums, including the Bröhan Museum in Berlin, the Royal Ontario Museum , and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston .

literature

• E. Pichelkastner / E. Hölzl: Bruckmann's Faience Lexicon. Bruckmann, Munich 1981.
• Dieter Zühlsdorff: Brand Lexicon Volume 1: Porcelain and Ceramic Report 1885–1935 . Arnold, Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-925369-00-7 .
• Deutsches Historisches Museum Berlin (Ed.): Märkische Ton-Kunst Berlin and Brandenburg Ceramics of the 20s and 30s , exhibition catalog, Berlin 1992, ill. P. 94.

Web links

• Drammen Museum: bowl by Luise Harkort
• Ceramic bowl

Individual evidence

1. ↑ A. Stark in: Artis Konstanz 36, No. 10, 1984, pp. 8-9.
2. ^ Karl H. Bröhan (ed.): Paintings, sculptures, handicrafts, industrial design . Bröhan Museum, Berlin 1985, p. 555 .
3. ↑ Velten-Vordamm stoneware factory . In: Gewerbefleiss . tape 105 . Berlin 1926, p. 36 .
4. ^ Dose, Fayence, Theodor Bogler and Luise Harkort, Steingutfabrik Velten, 1928 - Design20.eu. Retrieved January 12, 2019 (German). 
5. ↑ Magistrate for Greater Berlin (ed.): Ordinance sheet for Greater Berlin . tape 4 , no. 28-47 . Neue Berliner Verlagsgesellschaft, Berlin 1948, p. 167 .
6. ^ Harkort, Luise . In: General Artist Lexicon . KG Saur, Berlin, Boston 2019 ( degruyter.com ).
7. ^ Theodor Bogner & Luise Harkort: Bowl. Accessed January 12, 2019 .