Johann Stahl

Background

He was born in Oberbetschdorf, Alsace, in 1869, as the son of Louis Stahl (born 1843) and Anna Maria Braun (born 1841)

He grew up in the traditional pottery of his family.

Career

His studies of ceramics, modelling and sculpture led him to Strasbourg and Höhr-Grenzhausen. His detailed, translucent and finely worked porcelain reliefs gained him a gold medal on the 1900 World’s Fair in Paris. Usually, the white translucent figures are finely set on a blue or green background that partly shines through.

Striking is his absolute eye for the detailed modelling of his figures in a very delicate and lively way.

In order to increase the three-dimensional illusion, he carefully modulated the transparency of the white porcelain. On the one hand, parts of the scene and figures with higher translucency, id est (that is) darker tint, were precisely placed to evoke the impression of shadow.

On the other hand, he used this means in a way to let parts in the background systematically fade out the farer away they should appear.The most prominent figures in a scene show the highest fraction of pure white. Jean-Baptiste Stahl explored the variation of the translucency of the white porcelain as painters do, who simulate changing lights, shadows, depth and plasticity by varying the brightness of the colours.

He signed his work either with JStahl or JS. In preparation of his porcelain reliefs he made precise pencil drawings that are partially colorized.

All of Jean-Baptiste Stahl’s work was solely from his lifetime employment at Villeroy & Boch in Mettlach, Saarland, Germany, where he headed the factory"s school of drawing. Out of this craftsmanship he developed his own techniques in a period of over 65 years in the course of his unique work of art Examples of his work can be found at the Albrecht-Dürer-Foundation in Nürnberg.

With Branko Stahl (born 10 June 1963) the art tradition lives on in the Stahl family in the fourth generation.

Achievements

• In this way Jean-Baptiste Stahl achieves mastery of the so-called pate sur pate style in that his rather flat reliefs of his mature period demonstrate the three-dimensional illusion most prominently.