01 Gunta Stolzl Early Life and Career

Gunta Stolzl was born on March 5th, 1987, in Munich Germany as Adelgunde Stolzl. She kept diaries from 1911 onward with entries about friendships, mountaineering and discussions of novels and philosophical readings. Her father, teacher and school director, recognised and furthered her talents. She always had a keen interest in creating visual arts and as a result, she studied ceramics and art history in the School of Arts and Crafts from 1913-1916. She made hundred of sketches of architecture, potraits and landscapes during her time at the school. She then served as a voluntary Red Cross nurse from 1917-1918 during the First World War. She served alongside her only brother till the end of the war and during this time she made many sketches. After this, she wanted to get back into the creative field to study and practice art, so she decided to return to the School of Arts and Crafts. While there, she began to reform their curriculm and this is when she first came into contact with the Bauhaus manifesto. She applied to the college immediately with a portfolio that was absent of any craft and was instead focused on paintings and pencil and charcoal sketching. Her work in this portfolio was all 2D and could not foresee the gifted textile designer she would become. She died on April 22nd, 1983, in Zurich Switzerland. She was survived by two daughters, Monika and Yael and their respective children. Her daughters spread her story through the creation of her website along with a biography they produced detailing her achievements. They also deliver talks about her life and work.