Georg Hirth was a German writer

Writer

A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

, journalist

Journalist

A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

 and publisher. He is best-known for founding the cultural magazine Jugend in 1896, which was instrumental in popularizing Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...

.

Biography

Hirth was born in Tonna

Tonna, Germany

Tonna is a municipality in the district of Gotha, in Thuringia, Germany....

, Thuringia

Thuringia

The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....

 in 1841, studied to be an economist in Gotha

Gotha (town)

Gotha is a town in Thuringia, within the central core of Germany. It is the capital of the district of Gotha.- History :The town has existed at least since the 8th century, when it was mentioned in a document signed by Charlemagne as Villa Gotaha . Its importance derives from having been chosen in...

 and in Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

, and after a career working as a journalist he founded the magazine Jugend: Münchner illustrierte Wochenschrift für Kunst und Leben (Youth: the illustrated weekly magazine of art and lifestyle of Munich). This publication, which reflected the modernist

Modernism

Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...

 ideals that were circulating at the time among artists, was instrumental in promoting the style of Art Nouveau in Germany. As a result, the magazine's name was adopted as the most common German-language term for the movement: Jugendstil ("Jugend-style"). Hirth also coined the term "Secession" to represent the spirit of the various modern and reactionary movements of the era. He died in Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

 in 1916.

Selected works

• Herausgeber: Tagebuch des deutsch-französischen Kriegs (Leipzig 1870-1874) – Diary of the Franco-Prussian War
• Der Formenschatz der Renaissance (1877 ff., seit 1879 unter dem Titel Der Formenschatz) – published in English as Art Treasure
• Das deutsche Zimmer der Gotik und Renaissance etc. (3. Auflage 1886) – The German Gothic and Renaissance Room
• Kulturgeschichtliches Bilderbuch aus drei Jahrhunderten (1883 ff.) – published in English as Picture book of the graphic arts, 1500-1800
• Published a series of facsimile
  Facsimile
  A facsimile is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from other forms of reproduction by attempting to replicate the source as accurately as possible in terms of scale,...
  
  -reproductions of German woodcut
  Woodcut
  Woodcut—occasionally known as xylography—is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges...
  
   print
  Old master print
  An old master print is a work of art produced by a printing process within the Western tradition . A date of about 1830 is usually taken as marking the end of the period whose prints are covered by this term. The main techniques concerned are woodcut, engraving and etching, although there are...
  
  s and drawings by Albrecht Dürer
  Albrecht Dürer
  Albrecht Dürer was a German painter, printmaker, engraver, mathematician, and theorist from Nuremberg. His prints established his reputation across Europe when he was still in his twenties, and he has been conventionally regarded as the greatest artist of the Northern Renaissance ever since...
  
  , Hans Holbein the younger
  Hans Holbein the Younger
  Hans Holbein the Younger was a German artist and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style. He is best known as one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century. He also produced religious art, satire and Reformation propaganda, and made a significant contribution to the history...
  
  , Lucas Cranach the Elder
  Lucas Cranach the Elder
  Lucas Cranach the Elder , was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving...
  
  , Jost Amman
  Jost Amman
  Jost Amman was a Swiss artist, celebrated chiefly for his woodcuts, done mainly for book illustrations....
  
  , Virgil Solis
  Virgil Solis
  Virgil Solis or Virgilius Solis , a member of a prolific family of artists, was a German draughtsman and printmaker in engraving, etching and woodcut who worked in Nuremberg. His prints were sold separately or formed the illustrations of books; many prints signed by him are probably by assistants...
  
   and others in the Liebhaber-Bibliothek alter Illustratoren (1880 ff.)

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