Werner Klemke

Biography

Books, jackets, bindings, posters, illustration, set design. Born 12 March 1917 in Berlin-Weissensee, son of a carpenter/cabinetmaker. Self-taught graphic designer. 1937-9: designer (‘Trickfilmzeichner’) in a studio for animated cartoons. 1939-45: military service; the last years were in Holland. At the beginning of 1945 he became a prisoner of the English and was interned in East Friesland. 1946: freelance, his studio in East Berlin (german Democratic Republic). 1947: began using woodcut medium. From 1948: worked on the journal Ulenspiegel. From 1950: taught graphic design at the Hochschule für bildende und angewandte Kunst at Berlin-Weissensee (professor from 1956). 1954: designed covers for Das Magazin. 1959: awarded Gold Medal at the International Book Fair, Leipzig. 1962: awarded City of Leipzig Gutenberg Prize. 1982-92: taught at the Akademie der Künste, East Berlin. Member of German Academy of Arts, Bundes Deutscher Buchkünstler, AGI. Klemke designed and illustrated over 300 posters (mostly film and theatre) and over 500 books as well as stage sets and costumes, trademarks, postage stamps. Died 26 August 1994 in Berlin.

‘Klemke’s book designs have nothing random about them; their complexity is what makes them so effective.’ (Bläser, 1990, p. 75, tr. SM). ‘He was one of the great narrative portrayers of people and probably one of the last all-rounders in the great tradition of book illustration.’ (Küster, 1994, p. 83, tr. SM).

An appreciative reference to writings by and about Klemke is found in Matthias Haberzettl and Douglas Martin, ‘Werner Klemke as book illustrator’, The Private Library, v. 9, no. 2, Summer 2006.

Writings by

  • ‘Tadeusz Kulisiewicz’ (Polish artist), Bildende Kunst, 1955, 2, pp. 96-100
  • ‘Die Zehnbambushalle und die Technik des chinesischen Farbholzschnitts’, Bildende Kunst, 1955, 6, pp. 432-5
  • ‘Der Grafiker Herbert Tucholski’, Bildende Kunst 6, 1956, pp. 325-7
  • ‘“Die Inkunabeln sind immer die Besten”’ (review of a poster exh., Berlin), Bildende Kunst, 1957, 5, pp. 335-8, 351-2
  • ‘Die Künstlerin Elizabeth Shaw’, Bildende Kunst, 1958, 2, pp. 134-6
  • WWGA, 1962
  • ‘Erfüllt von der Heiterkeit der Weisheit’ (of Tschi Pai-shih, Chinese artist), Bildende Kunst, 1964, 7, pp. 352-4
  • ‘Wie illustriert man Kinderbücher?’, Bildende Kunst, 1965, 6, pp. 292-5
  • ‘Über das Illustrieren von Schulbüchern’, Bildende Kunst, 1967, 9, pp. 469-72
  • ‘Die Geschichte von Erich Ohser alias e.o. plauen’ (Foreword), in e.o. plauen, Vater und Sohn, Berlin, 1968
  • Leben und Werk des Typographen Jan Tschichold (introduction), Dresden: Verlag der Kunst, 1977
  • ‘Wie man Bücher durst Kunst (un-?)brauchbar machen kann’, Illustration 63, Nov. 2000, pp. 83-6 (on illustrated books
  • first appeared in the fashion journal Sibylle, no. 1, 1967), and cover.

Writings about

  • 1956-90: Franz Hermann Wills, ‘Werner Klemke’, Gg, Dec. 1956, pp. 10-19
  • F.H. Wills, ‘Werner Klemke’, Graphis 82, 1959, pp. 128-37
  • Allan Delafons, ‘Book design and illustration in the DDR’, Penrose Annual, 1960, pp. 46-9 plus inset
  • Günter Hess, ‘Werner Klemke und die neue deutsche Buchgrafik’, Bildende Kunst, 1961, 7, pp. 488-93
  • Vollmer, 1962
  • GKS, 1963, p. 222
  • Werner Klemke, Dresden: VEB Verlag der Kunst, 1963
  • Kurt Weidemann, ‘The advertising book-jacket, 1963’, Gg, Sept. 1964, pp. 8-23
  • DdP, 1965, pp. 274, 286, 287
  • Friedegund Weidemann, ‘Grafik in den Programmheften der Deutschen Staatsoper 1955-65’, Bildende Kunst, 1966, 8, pp. 442-3
  • Henning Wendland, ‘Buchkunst “Drüben”’, Graphik, 1966, 9, pp. 16-27
  • Horst Kunze and others, Werner Klemkes gesammelte Werke, Dresden: Verlag der Kunst, 1968
  • H. Schaefer and H.-M. Plesske, Die Gutenberg-Preisträger der Stadt Leipzig, Leipzig: Deutsche Bücherei, 1968, pp. 26-7
  • Helena Jarošová, ‘Illustrations by Werner Klemke’, Interpressgrafik 5, 1969, pp. 49-55
  • Hellmut Rademacher, ‘Ein echter Klemke’, review of Horst Kunze, Werner Klemkes gesammelte Werke, in Bildende Kunst, 1970, pp. 332-3
  • H. Kunze, Werner Klemkes gesammelte Werke, Dresden: VEB Verlag der Kunst, 1972 (2nd ed.) (excellent bibliography)
  • E. Gankina, ‘Werner Klemke und die Schulbuch-Illustration’, Marginalien, 1974, no. 56, pp. 7-10
  • F.H. Wills, ‘East German graphic design’, Graphis 183, 1976, pp. 70-79
  • Klaus Walther, ‘Mit Büchern leben. Notizen zu Werner Klemkes Bibliothek’, Marginalien, 1980/1, pp. 6-10
  • Axel Bertram, ‘Werner Klemke gewidmet zum 70. Geburtstag’, Bildende Kunst, March 1987, p. 141
  • H. Kunze, ‘Über den Graphiker Werner Klemke’, Philobiblon, Dec. 1988, pp. 307-20
  • G. Bläser, ‘Werner Klemke, Gebrauchsgraphiker und Büchermacher’, Illustration 63, Nov. 1990, pp. 74-9
  • 1991-present: A. Lemke-Junker, ‘Der Berliner Künstler Werner Klemke’, Kunst und Antiquitäten 12, 1992
  • Horst Kunze, ‘Die früheste Buchillustration von Werner Klemke’, Marginalien, 1994, no. 132, pp. 3-18
  • Wolfram Körner, ‘Werner Klemke 1917-94’ (obituary), Marginalien, 1994/IV, pp. 3-6
  • Bernd Küster, ‘Ein Universalist im Reich des schönen Buches’, Illustration 63, Nov. 1994, pp. 82-5 (obituary)
  • Sophie Kahane and Jörg Köhler (eds.), Werner Klemke: Das grosse Bilderbuch, Berlin: Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, 1996, 2000
  • Wolfram Körner, ‘Der erotische Klemke’, Marginalien, 1997/2, pp. 17-19
  • Hartmut Pätzke, ‘Werner Klemke und die Pirckheimer’, Marginalien, 1997/2, p. 20
  • DBE, 1997
  • Erhard Kunkel, ‘Eine Erinnerung an Werner Klemke’, Marginalien, 1998/1, pp. 15-20
  • Horst Kunze, Werner Klemke.. Lebensbilder und Bibliographie seines buchkünstlerischen Werkes, Rudolstadt: burgart, 1999 (bibliography)
  • Wolfram Körner, review of H. Kunze, Werner Klemke, in Marginalien, 1999/2, pp. 93-5
  • H. Kunze, Buchgefährten, Berlin: Pirckheimer, 1999
  • review of Werner Klemke. Lebensbilder…, in Illustration 63, Aug. 1999, p. 75
  • Werner Klemke (memorial exh. cat.), Berlin: Staatsbibliothek and Pirckheimer-Gesellschaft e.V., 1999
  • note of Werner Klemke (memorial exh. cat.), 1999, in Illustration 63, April 2000, pp. 36-7
  • Hans Peter Willberg, ‘Wie sie stechen’ (woodcuts), Imprimatur, Band XVII, 2002, pp. 240-43
  • Matthias Haberzettl and Douglas Martin, ‘Werner Klemke as book illustrator’, The Private Library, v. 9, no. 2, Summer 2006.

Exhibitions

  • Dresden, 1953
  • Akademie der Künste, Berlin, 1955
  • Mexico, 1956
  • Moscow, 1958/9
  • Deutsche Staatsbibliothek, 1967
  • Internationale Ausstellungspavillon, Berlin, 1969 (group)
  • Budapest and Prague, 1973
  • Akademie der Künste der DDR, 1987
  • Kunsthalle, Wilhelmshaven, 1992
  • Musisches Gymnasium, Neubrandenburg, 1997
  • Staatsbibliothek, Berlin, 1997, 1999 (memorial exh.)
  • Offenbach a.M., Klingspor Museum, 1998.

Collections

  • Kupferstichkabinett and National-Galerie, Berlin
  • Klingspor Museum, Offenbach a.M.