Die Europäische Mittelmeerakademie

Ita Heinze-Greenberg
Die Europäische Mittelmeerakademie
Hendricus Th. Wijdeveld, Erich Mendelsohn und das Kunstschulprojekt an der Côte d’Azur

2019. 24 x 28 cm, softcover with flap
304 pages, 151 illustrations b/w
ISBN 978-3-85676-270-4
CHF 72.00 / EUR 65.00
German

Designed by Michael Karner

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An art school of Europe – would that even be conceivable today? At the beginning of the 1930s, it was within reach. Inspired by the Bauhaus, Amsterdammer publicist and artist Hendricus Theodorus Wijdeveld, together with the Berlin architect Erich Mendelsohn, planned the Académie Européenne ’Méditerranée’ in Cavalière on the Côte d’Azur. The curriculum, developed by representatives of the international avant-garde, was wide-ranging: in addition to painting, sculpture and architecture, it included interior design, stage art, typography, ceramics and music. Courses in textile processing, dance, photography and film were also to be offered. Shortly before its opening in 1934, this ambitious project failed due to political realities. Today, 85 years later, the undertaking still impresses with its prophetic quality.
Ita Heinze-Greenberg vividly details this forward-looking project starting from numerous primary sources and places it in the cultural and political context of its time. This book is more than a historical documentation of the Mediterranean Academy; it is an engaged social portrait of European modernity.