Johannes Itan biography

Johannes Itan November 11, Zyucern-Linden, Switzerland-May 27, Zurich-Swiss artist, theorist of new art and teacher. He received worldwide fame thanks to the Bauhaus training course he formed, the so -called Forturcum, which formed the basis of teaching many modern primary art educational institutions. A thoughtful researcher and a teacher sensitive to individuality, his theoretical and pedagogical views and, which is especially valuable, the very very system of training artists, I.

Itten set out in his famous books about the color and form published in many languages. His system is designed not to suppress the personality, but to help the artist choose his own path without losing confidence in his abilities. Iten, along with other creators of Bauhaus, sought to overcome the old narrow -corporate approach in teaching artists, develop them with the skill of free ownership of shape and color as the main, universal tools of fine creativity.

Based on the fact that Bauhaus was, first of all, by an educational institution, the researcher of his history so characterizes the role of I. “In the period of the initial existence of Bauhaus, the most significant person was the artist and teacher of art Johann Itan, whom Gropius met with his first wife Alma Mahler subsequently a shipyard in Vienna, where Itten had a private art school.

First of all, he was a teacher, and then finished the course to become an artist. His teacher was Adolf Hulzel from Stuttgart, who, with his didactics, regarding art and the doctrine of the composition influenced itten. On the first of June, Itan took part in the first meeting of the Council for Mastery, at which the date of the beginning of his course was determined - October 1.

" The art of color in his book “The Art of Color”, using the allegory of the Vedas, I. Itten so manifests the basic general idea of ​​his pedagogical method: “Obtaining knowledge from books or teachers like a trip in a cart. Anyone who has reached her end will come off the wagon and go further on foot. ” He proclaims: “If you, not knowing the laws of color, are able to create masterpieces, then your path lies in this ignorance.

But if you, not knowing these laws, are not able to create masterpieces, then you should take care of obtaining relevant knowledge. ” On the example of both Western and Eastern masters, starting with the ancients, and ending with his contemporaries and associates Paul Klee, Vasily Kandinsky, Walter Gropius, I. Itten offers to comprehend various principles and approaches that are guided in their work.

Based on the experience of the predecessors who studied the physical nature of the light, the chemistry of pigments and dyes, the physiological and psychological aspects of the impact of color: I. Newton, I. Goethe, F. Runge, M. Chevrele, G. Gelmholtz, V. Betsold, V. Ostvstild, A. Hulzel, etc. Itten built his theory, integrating the previously found in it Patterns, mediating their understanding.

By modernizing the tool of the color circle - expanded the idea of ​​the functions of additional colors and color contrasts. His lectures are perceived as an exciting journey into the mysterious world: passions boil here, there is a struggle for championship, triumph and sadness, dreaminess and mental rise are alternating ... The whole course of I. Itten “propaedeutic” is designed to free the consciousness of the future artist from the Put of everything that is not related to pure regulation of individual gamut as a consequence and part of the psycho-physiological perception of the color phenomenon and composite preferences as a private factor of gestaltpsychology, consistent with objective laws of harmony, that is, the introduction of content through color and form, and not through the narrative, and not through the narrative, and not over the narrative.

The narrative. The latter implies that the color and shape in itself are excessively informative to do without borrowing auxiliary means in other “languages” of self -expression. Moreover, his heuristic method contributes not only to the identification of an individual gamut - this is the first stage, but also to a large extent thanks to it - the correct choice of the subject of interests, the correct use of abilities in the only, maximum corresponding sum of all the qualities of the individual, the area.

The Bauhauaz school involves the artist’s stay in accordance with society, the creation of a harmonious “habitat”, and not the anarchist confrontation of his personality to human needs in beauty. The I. Itten system, who attached paramount importance to comprehending the laws of color, was in tune with such a vision of the tasks of creativity; And to those who do not pay due attention to the coloristic culture, he recalls: “People who are sensitive to color can even provoke even a mental disorder ...

Isn't the general good health not more important than aesthetic unity? So in the shortest form, you can characterize the worldview of this artist and teacher.In the last words of the part of his course devoted to the study of the art of color, he critically postulates one of the basic principles of the concept, turning to the viewer more than the artist: “For those who are in the paintings of Pierrot della Franc, Braigel, Cezanne and many other masters, only their material objectivity and their symbolic content will be closed to the world of artistic power to be closed to the world of artistic power and beauty.

" But the main thing is where it began his book “The Art of Form”: “In the teaching process itself, there are unique and especially valuable moments when you suddenly feel how the depths of his soul begin to open in a particular student and he is illuminated by some of his inner light. Any presentation of my teaching seems dull to me compared to what really happens during direct communication with the students.

It is impossible to repeat neither intonation, nor rhythm and the system of speech, nor the place and time, nor the spiritual mood of the class and other circumstances that create a living atmosphere of communication.

But it is this unique that is the basis of the creative climate. My learning principle is based on an intuitive movement towards the goal. My enthusiasm was transmitted to the students and caused the effect of co -creation and joint comprehension of what I was talking about. To teach, trusting your inner voice, this is not at all like following a speculatively built techniques. I consider my best students to be those who managed, trusting their intuition, to discover their own path in art.

Only external imitation and copying of what the teacher gives does not allow to prove himself in full force. True, I must admit that I was not always offered by completely new and often only resurrected to life what was the basis of the work of artists of past eras.