Daniela Hammer-Tugendhat Book order

Built and designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe 1928–1930, the Tugendhat House in Brno / Czech Republic is one of the most significant buildings of European modernism. In 2001, UNESCO added the house to the List of World Cultural Heritage Sites. In this third, updated edition, the authors give personal and historic insights relating to the house; also documenting aspects pertaining to art history and conservation-science studies. The comprehensive description and in-depth discussion of the materials used is a special feature in this field of research. The appeal of this monograph lies in the publication of photographs from the family archive which, for the first time, show the house in its lived-in condition. The experimental artistic color photographs by Fritz Tugendhat are among the pioneering achievements of amateur photography.

Am Vorabend des niederländischen Unabhängigkeitskampfes gegen die spanische Herrschaft, in einer Zeit der politischen, sozialen und religiösen Umbrüche, entwarf Pieter Bruegel (ca. 1525 – 1569) eine ebenso komplexe Bildwelt. Humorvoll und volksnah, scharfsinnig und zutiefst kritisch reflektierte er die Gesellschaft seiner Zeit. Der reich bebilderte Katalog beleuchtet Bruegels künstlerische Ursprünge und bietet einen Überblick über sein gesamtes grafisches Schaffen, das so gegensätzliche Themen wie den »Bauern-Bruegel«, Bruegel als »zweiter Hieronymus Bosch«, als Erneuerer der Landschaftskunst sowie als satirischen Moralisten in sich vereint.

The book addresses the scientific debates on Rembrandt, Metsu, Vermeer, and Hoogstraten that are currently taking place in art history and cultural studies. These focus mainly on the representation of gender difference, the relationship between text and image, and the emotional discourse. They are also an appeal for art history as a form of cultural studies that analyses the semantic potential of art within discursive and social contemporary practices. Dutch painting of the seventeenth century reflects its relationship to visible reality. It deals with ambiguities and contradictions. As an avant-garde artistic media, it also contributes to the emergence of a subjectivity towards the modern “bourgeois”. It discards subject matter from its traditional fixation with iconology and evokes different imaginations and semantizations - aspects that have not been sufficiently taken into account in previous research. The book is to be understood as an appeal for art history as a form of cultural science that analyses the semantic potential of art within discursive and social contemporary practices, and, at the same time, demonstrates its relevance today. Works by Rembrandt, Metsu, Vermeer, Hoogstraten, and others serve as exemplary case studies for addressing current debates in art history and cultural studies, such as representation of gender difference, relationship between text and image, and emotional discourse.

The Tugendhat House in Brno (Czech Republic) was planned and built by Mies van der Rohe from 1928–1930, and is universally regarded not only as one of his masterpieces, but also as one of the most important buildings of European Modern architecture. What makes this monograph particularly fascinating is the fact that it presents previously unpublished photographs belonging to the Tugendhat family. These show the house as it was when it was first lived in. The facade and the roof terrace are, as the architect had envisioned, covered with climbers and creepers, thus making it clear that the architecture of the house and the landscaped garden were conceived as a whole. A representative collection of plans and drawings from Mies van der Rohe’s atelier can also be seen for the first time. Carefully produced photographs of the original furniture in the family’s possession, much of which has never been shown, are also included. Essays by Wolf Tegethoff, Franz Schulze, and Ivo Hammer give a detailed analysis of the significance of the Tugendhat House in the context of Mies van der Rohe’s architecture as a whole, as well as the living concepts of Modern architecture, to which Mies made such a decisive contribution. Daniela Hammer-Tugendhat applies herself to the key question as to how habitable the Tugendhat House was, based on her personal recollections and texts written by her parents.