Trude Guermonprez


Trude Guermonprez (9 November 19108 May 1976, born Gertrud Jalowetz, was a German born American textile artist and designer known for her tapestry landscapes. Her Bauhaus-influenced disciplined abstraction for hand woven textiles greatly contributed to the American craft and fiber art movements of the 1950s, 60s and even into the 70s, particularly during her tenure at the California College of Arts and Crafts.

Early life and education

Trude Guermonprez was born in Danzig. Her parents were Austrian and were active in the arts. She took on weaving while living in Halle, Germany, where she attended the Municipal School of Arts and Crafts. She was married to a photographer and former student of the Bauhaus, Paul Guermonprez, who died in 1944 while fighting in the Dutch resistance. Guermonprez worked in the Netherlands and then, after six years, relocated to the United States, with the support of Anni Albers.
In 1947, Guermonprez began teaching weaving and design at Black Mountain College near Asheville, North Carolina while Anni Albers was away on sabbatical, and to be with her mother Johanna Jalowetz and sister Lisa Aronson, who were also at the school. Upon Anni's return, Guermonprez was asked to continue as a full-time faculty member. She remained at Black Mountain College until the dissolution of the weaving program in 1949.
After leaving Black Mountain college, Guermonprez joined the Pond Farm artist collective run by Bauhaus-trained ceramicist Marguerite Wildenhain in Guerneville, California, and taught at the Pond Farm Workshops. She remarried, marrying John Elsesser. The couple moved to San Francisco.

Work

Guermonprez combined the painterly possibilities of silkscreen with the structural geometry implicit in warp and weft to create fiber wall hangings that are both texturally rich and delicately drawn.
Throughout her career, the majority of her work was private commission.

Selected exhibitions

Among the honors which Trude Guermonprez has earned are:
Craftsmanship Medal of the American Institute of Architects
Guermonprez died on 8 May 1976 in San Francisco.

Teaching

Guermonprez started her teaching career at Black Mountain College. She worked at Oakland College and at the San Francisco Art Institute.
In 1954 Guermonprez joined the faculty of California College of Arts and Crafts. She served as chair of the crafts department, at the California College of Arts and Crafts, overseeing: metal arts, ceramics, glass blowing, stitchery and textile printing, as well as supervising the weaving curriculum.
Her students included Kay Sekimachi Stocksdale, Ann Wilson, and Jane Lackey, among others.