EMIL RUDOLPH WEISS (1875-1942) DIE - INSEL. 1899. 32 1/4x23 1/2 inches, 90x59 3/4 cm. Kunstdruckerie Kunstlerbund, Karlsruhe. Condition B+: minor restoration along vertical and horizontal folds; repaired tear and minor restoration in image. As a regular contributor to Jugend and Pan, Emil Weiss was heavily involved in the birth of Jugendstil (the German Art Nouveau movement in Germany). He had studied painting in Paris, where one of his fellow students was Toulouse-Lautrec, but he found his lasting fame as a designer and a typographer. Die Insel, a Munich-based publication, debuted in 1899. Although it only lasted until 1901, it is considered one of the most important magazines published during its era. Its content was of the highest literary standards, featuring the works of such authors as Rainer Maria Rilke, August Strindberg and Frank Wedekind. Graphically, under the art direction of Peter Behrens, it was revolutionary. This poster is a fairy tale fantasy of an island seemingly floating amidst decorative motifs, in a style that may well have influenced the psychedelic artists in San Francisco in the 1960s. Rademacher p. 69, DFP-III 3380, Kunst p. 56.
