Eva Aschoff

Biography

Bookbindings, textile designs and, late in life, calligraphy. Born 26 April 1900 in Göttingen. 1921-3: at the Stuttgart Kunstgewerbeschule, student of F.H. Ernst Schneidler (lettering), Frieda Thiersch and Wilhelm Schlemmer (bookbinding). 1928-64: founded own workshop in Freiburg where she earned a high reputation as a bookbinder and maker of decorative papers. 1934-45: produced official certificates for the City of Freiburg from which she later was awarded an honorary prize (Ehrennadel). By 1935 she had designed textiles for Fa. Erismann & Co., Breisach. 1952-6: designed book-cover papers for the publishers Insel (nos. 169, 562, 566) and S. Fischer. By 1961 she had turned to calligraphy, her technique emulating the subtle brush-and-ink effects of Chinese landscapes. Died 20 September 1969 in Freiburg, Breisgau.

Writings by

  • ‘F.H.E. Schneidler’ (an appreciation), Graphis 64, 1956, pp. 115, 181.

Writings about

  • work shown in special Lettering issue of Gg, 1925, v. 1, pp. 84-7
  • Gerhard Bonhoff, ‘Eva Aschoff, Buchbindekunst – gebundene Kunst’, Imprimatur, 1958/60, pp. 18-26 plus 4- and 8-page insets (includes photo of EA)
  • MGBD, 1959, pp. 8, 26
  • Allgemeiner Anzeiger für Buchbindereien, Nov. 1969, p. 658 (obituary, photo)
  • Arne Wolf, ‘Reflections on visual/verbal fusion’, Calligraphy Review, 1990, v. 8, no. 1, pp. 16-24
  • AKL, 1992
  • FOS, 1998
  • Die Rupprecht-Presse zu München (auction cat. XLVI), Ramsen, Switzerland: Antiquariat Bibermühle, and Rotthalmünster, Germany: Antiquariat Heribert Tenschert, 2001.

Exhibitions

  • Kunstverein, Frankfurt a.M., 1936
  • Klingspor Museum, Offenbach a.M., 1955
  • Brussels World’s Fair, 1958

    • Augustiner Museum, Freiburg i. Br., 1960 and 1971

  • Klingspor Museum, Offenbach a.M., 1986 and 2000.

Collections

  • Klingspor Museum, Offenbach a.M.
  • two examples of her work (1961 and 1965) are in the NAL, London.