Otto Eckmann
1865–1902 · German Jugendstil painter and graphic artist
Otto Eckmann (Hamburg, 1865 – Badenweiler, 1902) was a German painter and graphic artist and a leading figure in the floral branch of Jugendstil, the German version of Art Nouveau. He is remembered today for the Eckmann typeface, based on Japanese calligraphy and medieval letter design.
Eckmann trained at applied arts schools in Hamburg and Nuremberg and at the academy in Munich. He worked as a painter until 1894, when he gave up painting, auctioned his works and turned to applied design. From 1895 he produced graphic work for the magazines Pan and Jugend, designed book covers and created the logo for the publisher S. Fischer Verlag. His woodblock-style illustrations for Jugend recall Japanese woodcuts, but unlike many of his contemporaries he used depth, with a clear background, middle ground and foreground.
Between 1900 and 1902 he worked for the Allgemeine Elektrizitätsgesellschaft (AEG) and designed the Eckmann and Fette Eckmann typefaces, probably the most widely used Jugendstil fonts still in use today. He died of tuberculosis at 37. His work, which includes swans and female figures, became a symbol of Jugendstil.