Wendingen Archive, 1918-1931Amsterdam : MHCHIJ De Hooge Brug
8 linear feet (12 clamshell boxes of original journals, 2 flat boxes of manuscript material, 1 original artwork of cover, framed
M1671The title of this early twentieth-century journal,
Wendingen, is based on a phrase from Friedrich Nietzsche, "Umwälzung aller Werte" [upheaval of all values]. Hendrik Theodorus Wijdeveld, the journal’s founder, translated the term "Umwälzung" into Dutch as "omwentelen" [revolve], then as "wentelen" [turn about], and, finally, as "wending" [turn]. "Wendingen" is the plural of "wending." Hence,
Wendingen implied a sense of turnings, as in turning away from the past and toward the future. To this end, Wijdeveld, who designed and edited most of the one hundred sixteen issues himself, oversaw the journal’s adoption of graphically innovative covers that opened to reveal beautifully gridded and typeset pages. Inspired by the notion of socially engaged contemporary Dutch architecture, the journal’s focus quickly expanded to include such topics as printmaking, non-Western artifacts, puppetry and stage design, and ancient building construction—a topical (and geographical) range very unique for its time.
Wendingen includes seven issues devoted solely to Frank Lloyd Wright (one of whose covers was designed by El Lissitzky), as well as issues on Josef Hoffmann, Erich Mendelsohn, Eileen Gray, Jan Toorop (two issues), Gustav Klimt, and Lyonel Feininger. The archive includes all issues published, dated 1916-1931. It also includes a collection of related material: the finished original drawing by Jesserun de Mesquita for one of the covers (vol. IX, no. 1, 1928), two original drawings for page layouts, and other ephemeral items.