Two Paths—a Shared Vision: Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Edward Gordon Craig
Dorota Kownacka-Rogulska
dorota.kownacka-rogulska@ispan.plInstitute of Art, Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7791-9088
Abstract
This article discusses the creative relationship between Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Edward Gordon Craig. The two artists were to join forces in a fruitful collaboration, for which Harry Graf Kessler, an admirer of their respective formal solutions and artistic visions, had high hopes. However, only woodcuts were created: Craig’s illustrations to Hofmannsthal drama Der weiße Fächer (White Fan) from 1897, described by the author himself as an interlude. The two artists shared a vision, a longing for things not of this world, a love of ancient myths, a rejection of realism, as well as admiration for Shakespeare and appreciation of Rembrandt. The article presents this symbiosis of thought, manifested in programmatic texts and artistic productions, intensifying wherever they could dispense with words and manage the space “between characters.”
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Keywords:
Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Edward Gordon Craig, „Der weiße Fächer” (White Fan) , woodcut, illustrationReferences
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Authors
Dorota Kownacka-Rogulskadorota.kownacka-rogulska@ispan.pl
Institute of Art, Polish Academy of Sciences Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7791-9088
DOROTA KOWNACKA-ROGULSKA – art historian, linguist, assistant professor at the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Editor of the Biuletyn Historii Sztuki.
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