Gego facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gego
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| Born |
Gertrud Louise Goldschmidt
1 August 1912 |
| Died | 17 September 1994 (aged 82) |
| Nationality | German and Venezuelan |
| Education | Technische Hochschule of Stuttgart, Germany |
| Known for | Sculptor, Architect, Printmaker |
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Notable work
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Reticulárea |
| Movement | Modern Art |
| Awards | Premio Nacional de Artes Plasticas |
Gertrud Louise Goldschmidt (born August 1, 1912 – died September 17, 1994), known as Gego, was a famous Venezuelan visual artist. She is best known for her unique sculptures from the 1960s and 1970s. Gego called these artworks "drawings without paper" because they used lines in a new way.
Contents
Early Life and Moving to Venezuela
Gertrud Louise Goldschmidt, or "Gego," was born in Hamburg, Germany, on August 1, 1912. Her family was Jewish. She was the sixth of seven children. Even though her uncle was a famous art historian, Gego chose to study architecture and engineering. She went to the Technische Hochschule of Stuttgart in 1932 and finished her studies in 1938.
Life became very difficult for Jewish families like Gego's when the Nazis came to power in Germany. Because of this, Gego and her family had to leave Germany in 1939. They moved to Venezuela. Gego later became a Venezuelan citizen in 1952.
Years later, a professor from the University of Hamburg studied the lives of Jewish people who had to leave Hamburg. Gego was one of the people he wanted to learn about. She wrote about her family's life in Germany and why she left. She explained how her family felt connected to German society.
The Importance of Education
After moving to Caracas, Venezuela, Gego became a teacher. She taught at the College of Architecture and City Planning at the Central University of Venezuela from 1958 to 1967. She also taught at the Neumann Institute of Design in Caracas from 1964 to 1977. Many other well-known artists taught there too.
Gego taught classes like "Two-Dimensional and Three-Dimensional Form." She also wrote articles about her ideas. She believed that students learned best through hands-on experience. She thought that just looking at pictures or reading theories about art and architecture was not enough. Gego felt that students were focusing too much on rules and not enough on their own imagination.
Gego's Artistic Career
Starting Her Art Journey
When Gego arrived in Venezuela, the country was doing well economically. Many artists were very successful. A new art style called Modernism was popular in Latin America. Venezuelan artists were excited about it. Modernism was also seen as a way for countries to show they were modern and progressive. It included ideas from industry, science, and architecture.
Gego made her first sculpture in 1957. She knew about the Modern art movement, but she wanted to create her own unique style. She didn't want to just copy ideas from Kinetic Art or other styles. Gego wanted her art to connect with the people of Venezuela, not just the wealthy or the government. She used many parts of her own life, like her German background, in her art.
Exploring the Line in Art
Gego took ideas from Kinetic Art, like movement and the importance of the viewer. One of her early works, Esfera (Sphere) (1959), was made of welded brass and steel. The pieces were placed at different angles, creating overlapping lines. As you walked around the sphere, the lines seemed to move and change. This was similar to the work of other Kinetic artists like Carlos Cruz-Diez.
By the mid-1960s, Gego developed her own ideas about lines. For her, a line was not just part of a bigger artwork. It was an artwork by itself. So, in her art, a line wasn't used to draw an image; the line was the image.
Gego used different materials to make her lines strong and interesting. She used steel, wire, lead, and nylon. These materials also showed her interest in architecture. She used them in her large sculptures and in a series called Dibujos Sin Papel (Drawings without Paper). These smaller works were made from bent and woven metal scraps. They looked like drawings but were made of metal, showing movement and creativity.
In the late 1960s, Gego also made lithographs, which are a type of print. She created a book called Lines in 1966. This book had lithographs in gray and red. By changing the thickness, length, and direction of the lines, she showed that lines are always changing. This proved that the idea of a "line" was strong and independent, no matter how it was made.
Understanding Space in Art
Gego's idea of "Drawings Without Paper" also showed her view of space. She thought of space as its own form, almost as if her art was part of the room itself. Her sculptures often used nets and grids, creating lots of empty spaces. This made both the solid parts and the empty spaces important.
The shadows created by her artworks were also very important. They showed how connected the sculpture was to the room. Gego liked to play with the idea of stable and unstable art. The sculpture itself was stable, but the shadows and slight movements of her delicate materials were always changing. In fact, her sculptures could look different each time they were set up, because Gego could arrange them as she wished.
Working at Tamarind Lithography Workshop
In 1963, Gego visited the Tamarind Lithography Workshop in Los Angeles. She returned in 1966 as an artist-fellow. During this time, she created many lithographs, including two books of them.
Gego explained why she liked using different ways to make prints. She said that a series of artworks with a clear meaning should be put together in a way that people can easily enjoy them. That's why she made books.
Just like in her sculptures, Gego used printmaking to experiment with lines. She used lines and their many variations to explore empty space, which she called the "nothing between the lines." She said that sometimes the space between the lines was just as important as the lines themselves.
Reticulárea: Gego's Famous Work
Gego's series of Reticuláreas is her most famous group of artworks. The first one was made in 1969. These pieces used aluminum and steel joined together to create a network of nets and webs. When displayed, they filled an entire room. Gego used repetition and layers, making the artwork seem endless. Her focus on lines and space created a beautiful experience for viewers. After her death, a permanent Reticulárea is kept at the Galería de Arte Nacional in Caracas, Venezuela.
Gego's Lasting Impact
Gego passed away on September 17, 1994, in Caracas, Venezuela. In the same year, her family created the Fundación Gego. This foundation works to protect her artistic legacy. It organizes exhibitions of her art and helps people learn about Gego's important contributions to the art world. In 2005, the Fundación Gego allowed Gego's personal writings to be published. These writings might inspire other artists with her new and experimental ways of making sculptures.
Personal Life
In 1940, Gego met Ernst Gunz, an urban planner, at an architectural firm. They got married in October 1940 and opened a furniture studio called ‘Gunz’. Gego designed lamps and wooden furniture there. They had two children, Tomás (born 1942) and Barbara (born 1944). Gego closed the studio in 1944 to spend more time with her children. By 1948, she started designing private homes, nightclubs, and restaurants again.
In 1951, she separated from Gunz. In 1952, she met artist and graphic designer Gerd Leufert. Gego and Leufert stayed together for the rest of their lives. Her artistic career grew stronger around the time she met Leufert. She began showing her watercolors and collages in 1954. By 1956, she was experimenting with creating three-dimensional art.
Images for kids
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Gego, a famous Venezuelan artist.
See also
In Spanish: Gego para niños
