Karl Schneider papers, ca. 1910-1962, bulk 1925-1945.

ArchivalResource

Karl Schneider papers, ca. 1910-1962, bulk 1925-1945.

Karl Schneider's papers contain photographs, correspondence, original documents, glass slides and many original drawings. Most of the photographic materials (ca. 850 items) document Schneider's first career in Germany (1921-1938), and the architectural achievements of his contemporaries. There are also a small number of official documents from both Weimar and Nazi Germany. All of the original drawings and sketches (ca. 1000 items) date from after Schneider's immigration to the United States in 1938. About half of these are his designs for consumer products produced by his employer Sears, Roebuck & Co., (1938-1945). The archive, therefore, offers an interesting glimpse into an artist/designer's collaboration with commercial industry, and the mass marketing of modern design through Sears' products. Series I. Personal and professional papers: (1921-1962) contain documents pertaining to Schneider's career, including German exhibitions and publications, and some papers relating to the loss of his professorship during the period of the Third Reich. Documents from his American phase include references, and immigration and licensing papers. There are, however, no personal letters and very few letters in Schneider's hand. Documents from Germany record Schneider's professional affiliations including contracts with the Kunstgewerbeschüle in Hamburg, his suspension from his position in 1933, his students' petitions for his reinstatement, and the termination of his employment by the Nazis. Files contain information about Schneider's publications and an inventory of Schneider's library. Personal documents include his birth certificate, discharge from the army, immigration and divorce papers. Schneider's professional life in the United States is chronicled by a small amount of correspondence, a 1944 contract with Liebl and Schlossman, and recommendations written on his behalf by Walter Gropius, Lewis Mumford, Walter Curt Behrendt and others. To augment the collection ca. 250 photocopied pages of articles and drawings from the Karl-Schneider-Archiv Hamburg, pertain to his early career. Series II. Sketches and drawings: ca. 1,000 sheets of sketches and drawings by Schneider represent his work in America. Included are drawings of Michelangelo's tomb of Julius II in the Medici Chapel done for art historian Edgar Wind, ca. 1942-1944. Other drawings document Schneider's architectural work. Most of the drawings concern Sears, Roebuck & Co. projects such as "Craftsman" tools, toys, appliances, furniture, and store designs. The drawings are in pencil, colored pencil, chalk, charcoal and wash. Series III. Photographs and slides: ca. 800 photographic prints and slides document Schneider's architectural designs in Germany and include many of unrealized plans and models. Included are some personal photographs, and a number of photographs of work by Schneider's German, Austrian and American contemporaries, such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Lewis Mumford and Louis Sullivan. There are also images of Schneider's designs for Sears stores (plans, views and site studies) and several photographs showing a Sears store under construction in Mexico City, 1946. There is also an album of photographs of Brunelleschi designs. Many of the photographic images were taken by Ernst Scheel and by Schneider's second wife, Ursula Wolff. Series IV. Glass negatives: ca. 800 glass negatives of the photographs in the collection. Although many of the photographs do not have negatives, dmost of the negatives in the collection have a corresponding photographic print.

ca. 45 lin. ft. (59 boxes, 10 flat file folders).

eng,

ger,

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 8291625

Getty Research Institute

Related Entities

There are 11 Entities related to this resource.

Sears, Roebuck and Company

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6mt4j4m (corporateBody)

Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in 1892, and reincorporated by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald in 1906. Formerly based at the Sears Tower in Chicago and currently headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, the operation began as a mail ordering catalog company and began opening retail locations in 1925. The first location was in Chicago, Illinois. In 2005, the...

Wright, Frank Lloyd, 1867-1959

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6f58d7q (person)

Architect, designer; Illinois, Wisconsin and Arizona. From the description of Frank Lloyd Wright textile design studies, [ca. 1955]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 86122971 BIOGHIST REQUIRED Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) was an American Architect internationally recognized for his distinctive Prairie Style houses, innovative building design, Taliesin school and fellowships, and philosophy of "organic architecture." From the guide to the Frank Lloyd Wright Miscel...

Michelangelo Buonarroti, 1475-1564

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w69706st (person)

Epithet: sculptor, painter, poet British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000295.0x0002d2 ...

Gropius, Walter, 1883-1969

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65h7dhw (person)

Architect, educator. Studied architecture at the Universities of Charlottenburg-Berlin and Munich, Germany from 1903 to 1907. Founded and directed the Staatliches Bauhaus, Weimar in 1919, which Gropius moved to Dessau in 1925 and renamed "Bauhaus Dessau". Professor of Architecture in the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, 1937 and Chairman of the Department of Architecture from 1938 to 1952. Formed the Architects' Collaborative in Cambridge in 1946. For further information see James ...

Mumford, Lewis, 1895-1990

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6s18205 (person)

American writer. From the description of Correspondence with Alfred S. Dashiell, 1931-1940. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 51846130 Carl Zigrosser and Lewis Mumford were life-long friends with shared interests in the arts, society and politics. From the description of Correspondence with Carl Zigrosser, 1925-1971, n.d. (University of Pennsylvania Library). WorldCat record id: 155902319 Sir Patrick Geddes was a Scottish biologist, sociologi...

Schneider, Karl, 1892-1945

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6g45rt9 (person)

German architect who was born in Mainz, Germany and received his architectural training under Lussow and Kuehne (Dresden, 1911-1912), Walter Gropius (Berlin, 1912-1914), and Peter Behrens (Berlin, 1915-1916). He established his own office in Hamburg in 1923, designing houses, housing projects, factories, theaters, and "unit" furniture. After immigrating to the United States in 1938, he worked in Chicago for Sears, Roebuck & Co. From the description of Karl Schneider papers, ca. 1...

Wind, Edgar, 1900-1971

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6ks8pqr (person)

Edgar Wind was a German-born art historian, who specialized in Renaissance iconography. He was involved with the Warburg Institute. He taught at various institutions in the U.S., including Smith College (1944-55), as well as at Oxford University (1955-1967). Marion Dodd, Smith College class of 1906, was a co-founder of the Hampshire Bookshop in Northampton. Esther Cloudman Dunn was a professor at Smith College. From the description of [Letter] 1953 Christmas, Northampton, Mass. [to] ...

Brunelleschi, Filippo, 1377-1446

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6n66j5x (person)

Sullivan, Louis H., 1856-1924

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6sj1pbm (person)

Architect. From the description of Louis H. Sullivan photographs and drawings, circa 1868-1924. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 505720020 From the description of Frank Lloyd Wright collection of Louis Henry Sullivan drawings, circa 1873-1910, (bulk circa 1883-1895). (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 122632888 American architect, born Sept. 3, 1856 in Boston, Massachusetts. He studied architecture un...

Wolff, Ursula

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64j359t (person)

Scheel, Ernst

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6642f3j (person)