Date: 1927
Size: 5.5 x 8.5 inches
Artist: Ernst Schneider
This mini lithographic poster for Japanaqua (a type of ink used by artists) was designed by Ernst Schneidler and published in a 1927 book edited by Dr. Walter Schubert. Titled "Die Deutsche Werbe Graphik," it was published in Berlin by Francken and Lang. It is the only edition of this important study of a great era of German graphic design featuring posters, packaging, advertising, book illustrations, programs for theater, and sports. Illustrated mostly with tipped-in color plates of work by Bernhard, Hohlwein, Klinger, Preetorius, Gipkens, Kleukens, Cissarz, Pechstein and many others, this book and the illustrations contained within it are considered highly collectable and very, very rare.
Ernst Schneidler, better known by his full (and rather formal name) Friedrich Hermann Ernst Schneidler was born on February 14, 1882, in Berlin. He began his studies at the Commercial Art School in Düsseldorf. His architecture instructor was Peter Behrens. He was later a student of Fritz Helmuth Ehmcke. After serving in World War I, Friedrich Schneidler took over the direction of the graphic design department of the Württemberg Commercial Art School in Stuttgart. He became a professor in 1921 and is regarded as the founder of the "Stuttgart School." Among his students are Imre Reiner, Geort Trump, Walter Brudi, Rudo Spemann, HAP Grieshaber, and Albert Kapr.
In 1925, Schneidler began work on his exhaustive textbook on composition and design called "Wassermann," which remained a fragment. It was produced with his creed "Anfangen, anfangen, immer wieder mit Ernst anfangen" (Begin, begin, always begin again in earnest). He became Professor Emeritus in 1949. Friedrich Schneidler died on January 7, 1956.