Trude Guermonprez

Trude Guermonprez (born Gertrud Emilie Jalowetz; 1910 1976), was a German and American textile artist, designer and educator, 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–1970s, particularly during her tenure at the California College of Arts and Crafts. Her mother was Johanna Jalowetz (née Groag), was a voice teacher and bookbinder and her father was Heinrich Jalowetz was a musicologist and conductor. Guermonprez was working for five years and 7 months at Het Paapje, while she was living in Wassenaar.

World War II Her parents visited Het Paapje in 1939. Because they were Jewish they were fleeing the Nazis. They settled in the United States to teach at Black Mountain College near Asheville, North Carolina. She married a Bauhaus trained photographer in 1939, Paul Guermonprez, and they lived together in the Netherlands. By 1940, Germany occupied the Netherlands.

Paul Guermonprez died in 1944 by Nazi execution, while fighting in the Dutch resistance. Hereafter, Trude Jalowetz consequently named herself Trude Guermonprez. She went into hiding until the end of World War II.

Black Mountain College She moved to the United States in 1947, with the support of Anni Albers. Guermonprez started her teaching career in the 1940s at Black Mountain College. In 1947, Guermonprez began teaching weaving and design at Black Mountain College while Anni Albers was away on sabbatical, 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.

Pond Farm Workshops and San Francisco After leaving Black Mountain college, Guermonprez moved West and joined the Pond Farm artist collective run by Bauhaus-trained ceramicist Marguerite Wildenhain in Guerneville, California, and taught at the Pond Farm Workshops. While at Pond Farms she met John Elsesser.

By March 24, 1951, she married John Elsesser (1897–1991), a carpenter and furniture builder. The couple moved to San Francisco, living at 810 Clipper Street in an older home her husband had restored. By December 1952, she had naturalized in the United States.

California College of the Arts In 1954, Guermonprez joined the faculty of California College of the Arts (CCA, formerly California College of Arts and Crafts). By 1960, she served as the Chair of the Crafts Department at CCA, overseeing: metal arts, ceramics, glass blowing, stitchery and textile printing, as well as supervising the weaving curriculum.

She additionally worked teaching at Oakland College, and at the San Francisco Art Institute.

Textiles Throughout her career, the majority of her work was private commission. Guermonprez was awarded the Craftsmanship Medal of the American Institute of Architects (1970) for her "distinguished creative design" in textiles and weaving. She was a fellow at the American Craft Council (1975).

Death and legacy Guermonprez died on 8 May 1976, after a short illness at Mount Zion Hospital in San Francisco, California.