Ernst Aufseeser

Biography

Painter, trademarks, stamps, book covers, posters, textiles. Jewish. Born 29 May 1880 in Nuremberg. Studied at the Steglitzer Werkstätten, Berlin, where he was a student of F.H. Ehmcke. Later studied at the Slade School of Art, London. From 1912: taught commercial art at the Düsseldorf Kunstgewerbe Akademie, in 1919 succeeding Ehmcke as director. By 1931: member of the Gruppe Düsseldorf, BDG. 1933: dismissed from his post as a result of the Nazi anti-Jewish laws. His style is marked by the use of typographic ornaments, usually in black-and-white. His works were reproduced frequently in Das Zelt, journal of the Ehmcke-Kreises. Died 12 December 1940 in Düsseldorf. His son Hans Tisdall became a successful designer in England.

Writings about

  • ‘Flor-Stickereien von Ernst Aufseeser’, Die Kunst, 1/1910, pp. 50-56
  • Rudolf Bleistein, ‘Neue deutsche Buchillustration’, Das Plakat, March 1915 (supplement, pp. 1, 2)
  • F.H. Ehmcke, ‘Wahrzeichen – Warenzeichen’ (trademarks), Das Plakat, Feb. 1921, pp. 69-100
  • Der Querschnitt, 1921, p. 180 (museum poster)
  • Max Osborn, ‘Die neuen deutschen Briefmarken’ (new stamps), Gg, 1925, v. 2, pp. 16-22
  • F.H. Ehmcke, ‘Deutsche Gebrauchsgraphik’, Klimschs Jahrbuch, 1927, pp. 9-37
  • DdW, 1927, p. 214 (cover of Der Querschnitt)
  • H.K. Frenzel, ‘Advertising in Germany in 1930’, Modern Publicity, 1930, pp. 102-9, 122
  • ‘Arbeiten von Mitgliedern der Gruppe Düsseldorf’, Gg, Feb. 1931, pp. 64-8, esp. p. 64
  • Hans Bockwitz, ‘Typographie und Gebrauchsgraphik in der Düsseldorfer Kunstakademie’, AfB, Aug. 1932, pp. 334-44, 345
  • H.K. Frenzel, ‘Professor Ernst Aufseeser’, Gg, Dec. 1932, pp. 12-26
  • Kunstsammlungen der Stadt Düsseldorf – 1945-8, Düsseldorf, 1948
  • Barbara Lepper, ed., Verboten, verfolgt. Kunstdiktatur im 3. Reich (exh. cat.), Duisberg, 1983
  • Ulrich Krempel (ed.), Am Anfang: Das junge Rheinland (exh. cat.), Düsseldorf: Claasen, 1985
  • Rudolf Schmitt, ‘Illustrierte Bücher und Mappenwerke des Jungen Rheinland’, Imprimatur, Band XII, 1987, pp. 146-64
  • AKL, 1992
  • DBE, 1995.

Exhibitions

  • Deutscher Werkbund, Cologne, 1914
  • Wilhelm-Lehmbruck-Museums, Duisberg
  • Kunstverein, Hannover
  • Kunsthalle, Wilhelmshaven (all 1983)
  • Düsseldorf, 1985 (group).