A deserted Paris house holds the mystery of a brilliant Viennese
modernist who worked alongside Le Corbusier and Adolf Loos before
vanishing. A leading painter still highly regarded in South Africa,
Jean Welz's prior architectural career has been virtually unknown
until a string of discoveries unfolded for author and filmmaker Peter
Wyeth, allowing him to narrate this amazing true tale of
genius. Trained in ultra-sophisticated, but conservative Vienna, Welz
was sent to Paris for the 1925 Art Deco exhibition by his influential
employer, renowned architect Josef Hoffmann. There he met preeminent
modern architects Le Corbusier and Adolf Loos. The latter employed him
to assist in building a house for the founder of Dada, Tristan Tzara.
They all mixed in avant-garde circles at the DĂ´me CafĂŠ in
Montparnasse along with Welzâs classmate from Vienna, later
Chicago-based architect Gabriel Guevrekian; Welzâs future employer
Raymond Fischer, whose archive was mostly destroyed by Nazis; and
photographer AndrĂŠ KertĂŠsz. Through Welzâs South African family
archive, author Wyeth retrieves stories, letters, portfolios, and
photographs generations after Welzâs death that unravel his heroic
designs, his stunning built critique of Corbusierâs âFive Points
of Architecture,â a gravestone for Marxâs daughter, and the many
ways that Welz disappeared amongst his collaborators, intentionally
and not. This account of why Jean Welz did not become a famous name in
architecture takes us through his brotherâs Nazi-art-dealings,
illness, betrayal, emigration, and an uncompromising artistâs vision
at the same time sifting through significant, literally-concrete
evidence of Welzâs built projects and visionary designs.
Les mer
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781954600096
Publisert
2022
Utgiver
Vendor
DoppelHouse Press
SprĂĽk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter