Jugend Magazine revisited

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It was just over a year ago that I was wishing there was some way to see whole issues of Jugend magazine, the German periodical launched in 1896 whose Art Nouveau style gave its name to the movement in Germany, Jugendstil. Yesterday’s search for Heinrich Vogeler artwork turned up that very thing, scanned editions of Jugend at the University of Heidelberg’s digital archive. Whole numbers from 1896 to 1925! I am aghast. As well as the scanned pages being very high quality you can download the bound collections as PDFs, each one totalling over 400 pages. Leafing through pages of old magazines in a foreign language doesn’t sound very stimulating if you can’t read German but Jugend was a very visual publication. Each issue is crammed with a variety of drawings in styles which range from black-and-white Art Nouveau motifs and quasi-Symbolist illustration to humorous drawings and cartoons. Each issue also featured a large drawing or painting on a fold-out spread.

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I’ve mentioned before that I like the way Jugend varied its cover art and title design from one issue to the next, and it’s great to see these covers in detail at a large size, many of them familiar from Art Nouveau textbooks. Some of the interior art is rather naive or poorly done but some of it is also surprisingly strange or downright grotesque in a manner which challenges our customary perception of the staid attitudes of the 19th century. There’s a lot of artwork to look through in these volumes so it’s impossible to post anything more than a brief selection of examples. All the illustrations shown here are from 1896; I haven’t even got to the later years yet. The best thing you can do is download a number and browse for yourself.

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Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
The illustrators archive

Previously on { feuilleton }
Der Orchideengarten illustrated
The Studio & Studio International
Der Orchideengarten
The Great God Pan
Jugend Magazine
Meggendorfer’s Blatter
Simplicissimus

9 thoughts on “Jugend Magazine revisited”

  1. Thank you once more for an excellent tip!
    I’ve been a fan of this blog for quite some time, a lurker, and I thought I’d leave a note of thanks for your wonderful work and dedication and all the research.

  2. Just sampled a few issues and have to say this is an outstanding job from the University of Heidelberg. The quality of the scans is – for once – superb. Bravo!

  3. oh my goodness, this post is filled with amazing. i cant wait to get home from work and pour over these visuals later! i am a student of the history of interior design/decorative arts and we just went over the art nouveau period in a class last week, so with all that fresh in my mind i am really excited to see more than just what was thrown at us in a 2 hr lecture.

  4. Even though I own almost 3 complete sets of these eternally mind-blowing magazines, I find it exhilarating to see your picks of the pics and read yours and others comments. I have allergies which makes it hard to look at the originals, as thrilling as that might be! Thank you so much for keeping these images fresh for me!!! Is there anything as dense with burgeoning unleashed psychic torment, beauty, and ecstasy?

    B.

  5. I saw a book cover’lthograph at the flea market and it has been haunting me ever since. The image was of many maribou’s,definitely from the jungenstil period. It was the size of the old fortune magazines and very grid like as far as layout. The color was green and black on what was white paper. Any idea of artist or image would be appreciated. Thank youth

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