Gudrun Baudisch-Wittke

Gudrun Baudisch, later Gudrun Baudisch-Wittke (17 March 1907 – 16 October 1982) was an Austrian ceramist, sculptor, and painter. Baudisch founded the Keramik Hallstatt workshop.

Education Baudisch was born in Pöls near Judenburg. Both her father Dr. Raimund Baudisch (1876–1936) and stepmother Rudolfine Cervonik (1884–1953) were interested in art and culture. Raimund and Rudolfine both encouraged Baudisch's desire for an artistic profession. In 1922 Baudisch was admitted to the Österreichische Bundeslehranstalt für das Baufach und Kunstgewerbe in Graz and worked for a year in the sculpture class of Wilhelm Gösser. Baudisch worked several times as a trainee in the . The "heads" created in 1924, which are characteristic of Baudisch, were probably inspired by colleagues (Vally Wieselthier, Rudolf Knörlein) at the Scheibbs factory. From 1923 onwards, she followed a three-year apprenticeship in the ceramics class of Hans Adametz, and in 1926 she received her diploma from the Graz institute.

Early work In 1926 Baudisch began her professional activity as a volunteer in the design department of the Wiener Werkstätte.

In 1930 she was able to take part in the exhibition in Vienna with two life-size sculptures. In the same year she left the Wiener Werkstätte at her own request and founded her own ceramics workshop with Mario von Pontoni. This existed from 1930 to 1936.

In 1931 she married the engineer Leopold Teltscher.

So-called architectural works and stucco decorations in public buildings and in several churches began. As an assistant to the architect Clemens Holzmeister, she took over the architectural work on Kemal Atatürk's presidential palace in Ankara. Her work includes the decoration of the colonnaded courtyard on the ground floor of the palace with five fully sculptured female figures made of terracotta, whose design can be traced back to the influence of Josef Thorak and Anton Hanak. In other buildings by Clemens Holzmeister, Baudisch took over the decoration with stucco ceilings and other parts of the interior, such as in the in Bregenz (1930–1932) and in the Christus-Kirche in Vienna (1933), which was intended as a memorial church for the late Federal Chancellor Ignaz Seipel. Clemens Holzmeister then went to Turkey and Greece for professional reasons, so that it was not until 1956 that he and Baudisch worked together again.

For the "General German Catholic Day" in Vienna in 1933, Baudisch made various Christian emblems, two processional flags, a church bell and a baptismal font. In 1935, she designed the new Austrian 1-schilling coin. In 1934 she received the 1st prize of the Austrian Ministry of Finance for the 50 groschen and the 1 schilling design. She also worked on the Austrian pavilion for the Brussels International Exposition (1935). In the same year she became a full member of the Artists' Association of Austrian Sculptors. As times were bad economically, Baudisch also withdrew to the countryside in the summer to the . She divorced Leopold Teltscher in 1936.

Activity in Germany during the Nazi era In 1936, Baudisch moved to Berlin. The name of Josef Thorak, who had already established himself as an artist in the Third Reich and whom Baudisch had already met in Ankara, reappeared. In Germany, the "Kunst-am-Bau-Verordnung" (Art in Construction Ordinance) had provided good working conditions for artists since 1934, even if the so-called "renewal of art" sought by the National Socialist regime was not to everyone's liking.

In the course of her work for the Nazi regime, she met the officer Karl Heinz Wittke (1908–1978) in 1938. He supervised the artist in her work at the Hermann Goering Barracks. Her second marriage to him followed on 17 December 1940. In 1945/46 Baudisch founded the Keramik Hallstatt workshop, initially also called "Hallstatt-Keramik" or "Hallstätter Keramik", which she also ran until 1977 (handover to Erwin Gschwandtner, now owned by his sons).

In 1974, she moved to Salzburg. Here she lived with her husband in a small flat in the old town on Universitätsplatz until her death; in addition, she had set up a studio in the district of Riedenburg, where she could continue to pursue her clay work.

Works

Source:

Ceramic building works

Bad Goisern spa hotel, 1951/52. Volksbank: Baukeramik, 1973. Electrode factory Steeg: wall decoration on the office building, 1962. Bad Ischl central school: entrance design, 1962. Hotel Goldener Stern, 1962/72. Upper Austria People's Credit Bank: Relief, 1962. Kurhaus, 1966. Kurmittelhaus, 1967. Bad Schallerbach, bath house, 1975. Gloggnitz, Christ the King's Church: Marien-Kap., 1965. Grein, nursing home: Institution-Kap .; Tabernacle, 1973. Hallstatt Hotel Grüner Baum: Mosaik et al., 1952, 1977. Music rehearsal room in Lahn: wall decoration, 1958. Elementary school, 1965. Leogang, Hotel Krallerhof: wall decoration of the cellar bar, 1973. Linz Urban retirement home: mosaic, 1962. Bruckner Conservatory: Frieze in the Great Hall, 1970. Chamber of Agriculture: Lecture Hall, 1973/74. State Theater, 1957 (also stucco work). Landeskulturzentrum Ursulinenhof: ballroom wall design, 1975/76. Restaurant, 1978. Mayrhofen / Tyrol, Catholic parish: Tabernacle cladding; Baptism chap., 1968/69. Obertraun Berghotel Krippenstein, 1950/56. Federal Sports School, 1951–53 (also stucco ceiling and stove). Rechnitz / Burgenland, sisters from Göttl. Redeemer: tabernacle, cape altar cross, 1975. Rustorf / Upper Austria, elementary school: facade mosaic, 1971. Salzburg Festspielhaus, 1959/60 (also mortar-cut ceiling in the presidential room). Hotel Gablerbräu, 1953 (together with Carl Jamöck); 12 medallions. Hotel Austria Hof, 1961/62. Strobl / Salzburg, Volksbildungsheim: Mosaik, 1969. Weyregg, Housekeeping School, 1976. Vienna Wiener Ver., Administration building (Vienna III): Mosaik, 1963. Central cemetery, crematorium: various mosaics, 1967/69, 1970/72, 1976/77. Cemetery SW (Vienna XII): Relief, 1974/75. Economic Development Inst. (Vienna XVIII): Wall sculpture, purchased in 1972. Wörgl / Tirol, Urn Cemetery: Plastic, 1965. Zell Am See, gliding school, Fliegerheim: mural, 1958. Zwölfaxing / Lower Austria, Catholic Parish: Tabernakel, 1966/67.

Stucco

Ankara, Gazi Ewi, Palace Kemal Atatürk, 1930. Badgastein, Kurheim, 1948. Bad Goisern, spa hotel, 1951/52. Berlin (together with C. Jamöck) K.-Schumacher-Damm, Quartier Napoleon: ballroom ceiling; Terracotta fireplace, 1937/38. Italian Consulate (Graf-Spee-Str. 17), 1938/41. Spanish Consulate (Lichtensteinallee 30): Ballroom ceiling, 1938/43. Reichsmünze (Moltke market): 1936/42. Bregenz, Mariahilf Church: ceiling also stone and ceramic work; Virgin Mary statue above the high altar, 1931. Frohnleiten / Styria, Pfannberg Castle, 1959/60. Fuschl / Salzburg, Hotel Schloss Fuschl, 1959. Gmunden, Stadttheater: Saaldecke, 1949 (together with C. Jamöck). Rustorf / Upper Austria, Gut Holzleithen, 1952 Salzburg, Chamber for Workers and Employees: Blanket, 1950 (together with C. Jamöck). Vienna Konfektionshaus Neumann (Vienna I): ceiling in the ladies' salon, 1949/50 (together with C. Jamöck). Villa Mautner-Markhof (Vienna XI): ceiling in the music room, 1949 (together with C. Jamöck). Vienna (XV), Christ the King Memorial Church, 1934 (together with C. Jamöck).

Other architecture and monument art

Altenmarkt / Pongau: tabernacle. Brussels, World Exhibition, Austria Pavilion: Tree of Life, mortar cut, 1935. Hallstatt Urnenhain: Monument, 1962 (design E. Boltenstern). Road tunnel, S-portal: state coat of arms, bronze relief, 1966. Salzberg burial ground: fountain, 1956 (design C. Holzmeister). Leoben, Creditanstalt, Kassenhalle: plaster mortar cut, 1951/52. Linz Schlosszwinger playground: drinking fountain with mosaic, 1956/57. Südbahnhof: Fischbrunnen, 1952. Dr. E. Koref School: Fischbrunnen, 1959. Mauthausen, Bezirksaltenheim: interior design of the chapel, 1964. Riyadh / Saudi Arabia, Council of Ministers Majlis Al Shura: wall decoration, furnishings, design, 1975.

Awards 1934: 1st prize in the coin competition of the Austrian Ministry of Finance for the 50-groschen and 1-schilling design 1961: Berufstitel Professor (title of professor) 1962: Bayerischer Staatspreis der Handwerkskammer München 1964: Silver medal at the international ceramics exhibition in Prague 1965: XXIII. Concorso internationale della Ceramica d’Arte contemporanea, Gold medal, Faenza, Italy 1971: Honorary citizen of Hallstatt