Augustin Tschinkel (Czech, 1905–1983)

Tschinkel was a discreet member of the avant-garde. He was neither a painter nor an individualist. By contrast, his radicalism was found precisely in his rejection of such artistic norms. He was a joiner, a collaborator, a true believer in the collective. He made works for reproduction and was dedicated to what a critic in Das Neue Frankfurt called a “drawing language for a new world rearrangement (Weltumordnung).”

Born in Prague in 1905, Tschinkel met the Czech artist, designer, and educator Ladislav Sutnar (1897–1976), his senior by eight years, when he was still a student. In 1928, Sutnar engaged Tschinkel as part of a team preparing the Czech pavilion of the landmark Internationale Pressa Ausstellung (International Press Exhibition) in Cologne, Germany. It was here that Tschinkel met the artists Peter Alma, Gerd Arntz, Heinrich Hoerle, and Franz Seiwert. The following year he would contribute to the first issue of their journal a bis z: organ der gruppe progressive Künstler (1929–1933), and to another five issues thereafter.

When Arntz was recruited by economist and social scientist Otto Neurath to act as artistic director of the Gesellschafts- und Wirtschaftsmuseum (GeWiMu; Social and Economic Museum) in Vienna, he brought Alma and Tschinkel with him. Tschinkel worked for the GeWiMu between 1929 and 1930.

When Sutnar was appointed director of Prague’s Státní grafická škola (State School of Graphics) in 1933, he hired Tschinkel as an instructor, a position Tchinkel retained until the German invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1939. Moving with ease between nations and between organizations, Tschinkel’s career reflected the aspirations of the international avant-garde as well as its abrupt demise.

Secondary Sources

Kees Broos, Augustin Tschinkel. Prentenkabinet Nr. 47, catalogue for exhibition at the Haags Gemeentemuseum (September 25–November 21, 1976) and catalogue raisonné of prints. Haag: Gemeentemuseum, 1976.

Gerd Arntz und Augustin Tschinkel (Katalog 81). Cologne: Galerie Glöckner, 2010.

Gruppe Progressiver Künstler (Cologne Progressives), Cologne (1928–1933)

Prints

Vorstadt (Suburb), 1928
Woodcut
5 3/8 x 7 1/4” (13.7 x 18.4 cm)
Inscribed (pencil): tschinkel 28
Haags Prentenkabinet 1976, prints, no. 3 (as 1927)

Weg zur Arbeit (Way to Work), 1930
Linocut on tissue paper
17 3/4 x 11” (45 x 28 cm)
Inscribed (pencil): aug. tschinkel / tschinkel 1930
Reproduced: a bis z, 12 (November 1930), p. 45; Wendingen, vol. 11, no. 9 (1930 [published c. August 1931]), p. 18
Haags Prentenkabinet 1976, prints, no. 14

Zum Walfisch (The Whale House), 1930
Linocut
11 3/4 x 11 5/8” (30 x 29.7 cm)
Inscribed (pencil): aug. tschinkel 30
Haags Prentenkabinet 1976, prints, no. 21

Amerikanisches Denkmal (Dollar) (American Monument [Dollar]), 1929
Linocut on tissue paper
11 5/8 x 8 7/8” (29.5 x 22.5 cm)
Inscribed (pencil): tschinkel

Alltag (Everyday Life), 1930
Woodcut on tissue paper
11 1/8 x 9" (28 x 22 cm)
Inscribed (pencil): alltag / aug. tschinkel 1930
Haags Prentenkabinet 1976, prints, no. 15

Wahlversprechungen (Election Promises), 1932
Linocut
9 3/4 x 11” (25 x 28 cm)
Dated (in plate): T / 32
Haags Prentenkabinet 1976, drawings, no. 3 (not in prints)

Waffensegnung (Blessing Weapons), 1928
Linocut on rag paper
11 x 8 1/2” (27.9 x 21.5 cm)
Inscribed (pencil): aug. tschinkel
Haags Prentenkabinet 1976, prints, no. 8

Arbeiter I (Workers I), 1930
Linocut on tissue paper
12 1/8 x 8 5/8” (30.8 x 22 cm)
Inscribed (pencil): tschinkel 1930
Haags Prentenkabinet 1976, prints, no. 16

Profitgesellschaft (Profitable society), 1928
Linocut on tissue paper
12 x 9” (30.6 x 23 cm)
Inscribed (pencil): aug. tschinkel
Reproduced: a bis z, 10 (August 1930), p. 40
Haags Prentenkabinet 1976, prints, no. 7

Liebe und Ordnung (Love and Order), 1931
Linocut on tissue paper
14 x 9 1/2” (35.4 x 24 cm)
Inscribed (pencil): aug. tschinkel 31
Haags Prentenkabinet 1976, prints, no. 19

Drawings (for reproduction)

Der verliebte Schneider (The Beloved Tailor), 1935
Ink, gouache and pencil on paper
11 1/4 x 8 1/2” (28.6 x 21.6 cm)
Inscribed (pencil): t
Haags Prentenkabinet 1976, drawings, no. 4

Der verliebte Schneider (The Beloved Tailor), 1935
Linocut
11 1/4 x 8 1/2” (28.6 x 21.6 cm)
Inscribed (pencil): aug. tschinkel

Die Friedenstauben (The Doves of Peace), 1932
Ink, gouache, and pasted paper on paper
10 1/2 x 6 1/2” (26.5 x 16.5 cm)
Inscribed (ink): t
Reproduced: a bis z, no. 25 (July 1932), p. 100
Haags Prentenkabinet 1976, drawings, no. 2

Publications

a bis z (Cologne, 1929–1933; 30 issues). Tschinkel’s contributions are indicated below within red frames.

a bis z, no. 12 (November 1930), p. 45

Břetislav Mencák and F. W. Seiwert, ed. Soziale Grafik: Ein Bilderbuch mit internationaler Auswahl
Kladno: Naše Cesty, 1932
Lithograph
5 3/4 x 4 3/8” (14.5 x 11 cm)

a bis z, no. 10 (August 1930), p. 40

a bis z, no. 25 (July 1932), p. 100

Gesellschafts- und Wirtschaftsmuseum (Social and Economic Museum), Vienna (1929–1930)

Ladislav Sutnar (design)
August Tschinkel, “Práce Sociologického a Hospodářského Musea ve Vídni,” Vytvarne snahy (VS; Art Endeavors), year. XI, no. 5 (1929–30), pp. 78–81.
Lithograph
10 x 7” (25.4 x 17.7 cm)
Haags Prentenkabinet 1976, writings 1930 (no number)

Augustin Tschinkel, “Statistik und Kollektivform,” a bis z, no. 13 (January 1931), p. 51.
Letterpress
11 3/4 x 8 1/2" (29.8 x 21.6 cm)

Cover of Wendingen (Amsterdam), vol. 11, no. 9 (1930 [published c. August 1931]). Issue devoted to Beeldstatistiek, Sociologische Grafiek (Pictorial Statistics, Social Graphics), edited by Peter Alma.
Lithograph
13 1/8 x 13 1/4” (33.3 x 33.6 cm)

Státní grafická škola (State School of Graphics), Prague (1933–1939)

Books

Augustin Tschinkel, Zemepisné rebusy (Geography Puzzles)
Prague: Státní grafická skola, 1936
Lithograph
5 7/8 x 8 1/4” (14.9 x 21 cm)
Haags Prentenkabinet 1976, books 1936 (no number)

Augustin Tschinkel, Symbol, Rebus, Písmeno (Symbol, Puzzle, Letter)
Prague: Státní grafická škola, 1937
Lithograph
8 1/4 x 5 7/8” (21 x 14.9 cm)
Haags Prentenkabinet 1976, books 1937 (no number)

Collaborations with Ladislav Sutnar

Ladislav Sutnar (design) and
Augustin Tschinkel (photos)
Poster: Dělnická Olympiáda československá (Third Czechoslovak Worker’s Olympiad; July 1–8, 1934),
1934
Lithograph
49 1/2 x 37” (126 x 94 cm)

Ladislav Sutnar (typography) and
Augustin Tschinkel (cover and illustrations)
Maršak Iljin, Hory a Lidé (Men and Mountains)
Prague: Družstevní práce, 1936
Lithograph and letterpress
8 7/8 x 6 1/2 x 3/4” (22 x 16.5 x 2 cm)

Ladislav Sutnar (editor and designer) and Augustin Tschinkel (maps and diagrams)
Bedřich Mendel, Mala vlastivěda (Little civics reader)
Prague: Statni pedagogicke nakladatelstvi (SPN), 1935
Lithograph
8 3/16 × 11 13/16″ (20.8 x 30 cm)
Haags Prentenkabinet 1976, books 1935 (no number)

Ladislav Sutnar (design) and
Augustin Tschinkel (photos)
Postcard (recto and verso): Dělnická Olympiáda československá (Third Czechoslovak Worker’s Olympiad;
July 1–8, 1934), 1934
Lithograph
5 3/4 x 3 3/4” (14.5 x 9.5 cm)

Ladislav Sutnar (design) and
Augustin Tschinkel (photos)
Program (17 pp): Dělnická Olympiáda československá (Third Czechoslovak Worker’s Olympiad; July 1–8, 1934)
Prague: Výbor III. dělnická olympiada, 1934
Lithograph and letterpress
8 x 5” (20 x 12.5 cm)

 

The works shown here represent only a selection from the collection, please contact us for further inquiry.