Hein Heckroth

{{Short description|German art director (1901–1970)}} [[Image:Hein heckroth bueste detlef kraft 20070519.jpg|thumb|A bust of Hein Heckroth]] '''Hein Heckroth''' (14 April 1901 in [[Gießen]] - 7 July 1970 in [[Amsterdam]]) was a German painter, costume designer and [[art director]] of stage and film productions. Heckroth spent much of his career in the United Kingdom, and he is best known for his work during that period with the filmmakers [[Michael Powell]] and [[Emeric Pressburger]] on films such as ''[[The Red Shoes (1948 film)|The Red Shoes]]'' and ''[[The Tales of Hoffmann (film)|The Tales of Hoffmann]]''.

==Early life and career==

Heckroth was born in 1901 in Giessen, Germany. As a young man, he moved to [[Frankfurt]], where he studied as a painter. He was deeply affected by the prevailing artistic movements of the postwar era, including [[Surrealism]], [[Expressionism]], and [[Cubism]]. Heckroth's career quickly skyrocketed, and, at only twenty-three years old, he began designing costumes and sets for [[Kurt Jooss]]'s pioneering dance company.<ref name=Gothic>{{cite web |last1=Moor |first1=Andrew |title=Gothic Riots: The Work of Hein Heckroth |url=https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/404-gothic-riots-the-work-of-hein-heckroth |website=The Criterion Collection |access-date=20 April 2023}}</ref> He achieved renown as a prolific designer of stage productions, including several performances of [[Jacques Offenbach]]'s opera ''[[The Tales of Hoffmann]]'' and the original production of ''[[The Green Table]]''. After [[Adolf Hitler]] came to power in Germany, Heckroth's Jewish wife Ada, also an artist, left for [[Paris]] with their daughter, Nandi. Heckroth joined them in 1935, and the three moved to [[Great Britain]]. There, he reestablished himself as both a painter and art designer, designing the sets and costumes for the first production of ''[[Don Giovanni]]'' at [[Glyndebourne]] in 1936<ref>{{cite book | last = Norwich|first = John Julius|authorlink =John Julius Norwich| year = 1985| title= Fifty Years of Glyndebourne, p.148 | publisher = Jonathan Cape| location = London| isbn = 0-224-02310-1}}</ref> and the [[Kurt Weill]] operetta, ''[[A Kingdom for a Cow]]''.<ref name=Gothic/> During this time, he also began teaching art at [[Dartington Hall]]. There, he met his old friends, [[Walter Gropius]] and [[Lee Miller]]. Miller introduced him to her husband, [[Roland Penrose]], and the art critic [[Herbert Read]]. He also befriended other members of the Dartington faculty, including [[David Mellor]], [[Mark Tobey]], and [[Cecil Collins (artist)|Cecil Collins]].<ref name="Aldred">{{cite book |last1=Aldred |first1=Nanette |editor1-last=Christie |editor1-first=Ian |editor2-last=Moor |editor2-first=Andrew |title=The Cinema of Michael Powell: International Perspectives on an English Film-Maker |date=2005 |publisher=BFI |location=London |pages=187–206 |chapter=Hein Heckroth and The Archers| isbn = 1-84457-094-0}}</ref>

==Move to England and work with The Archers==

When [[World War II]] broke out, Heckroth was imprisoned by the British government as an enemy alien and shipped to [[Australia]]. His friends in the art world rallied to his defense; Read campaigned for his release, as did [[Michael Foot]]. As part of their efforts, the organized his first solo exhibition in Britain in May 1943. Their efforts were successful, and Heckroth was allowed to return to England. After his return, he designed an ambitious stage production of ''[[War and Peace]]'' which incorporated a number of filmic elements, including film projected onto the stage. The art director [[Vincent Korda]] noticed this, and he was soon recruited as the costume designer on [[Gabriel Pascal]]'s ''[[Caesar and Cleopatra (film)|Caesar and Cleopatra]]''.<ref name=Gothic/>

His entry into the film world was noticed by another German emigre, [[Alfred Junge]], who was working as the production designer for [[Michael Powell]] and [[Emeric Pressburger]], the acclaimed filmmaking duo known as [[Powell and Pressburger|The Archers]]. He served under Junge as the costume designer on ''[[A Matter of Life and Death (1946 film)|A Matter of Life and Death]]'' and ''[[Black Narcissus]]''.

Heckroth's greatest success came in 1948, when The Archers made him their production and costume designer on ''[[The Red Shoes (1948 film)|The Red Shoes]].'' Junge was unwilling to design a film with the radical edge that Powell was looking for, and Heckroth's work quickly earned him notice. He won the [[Academy Award for Best Production Design|Academy Award for Best Art Direction]] for his work on the film with art director, [[Arthur Lawson (designer)|Arthur Lawson]].<ref name="Sickliness">{{cite journal |last1=Moor |first1=Andrew |title=Hein Heckroth at the Archers: Art, Commerce, Sickliness |journal=Journal of British Cinema and Television |date=May 2005 |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=67–81|doi=10.3366/jbctv.2005.2.1.67 }}</ref>

Heckroth remained one of The Archers' principal collaborators for the next several years, designing their films ''[[The Small Back Room]]'', ''[[The Elusive Pimpernel (1950 film)|The Elusive Pimpernel]]'', ''[[Gone to Earth (film) |Gone to Earth]]'', ''[[The Tales of Hoffmann (film) |The Tales of Hoffmann]]'' (for which he was nominated for two more [[Academy Awards]] for his art direction and costume designs), and ''[[Oh... Rosalinda!!]]''. He also served as artistic supervisor on ''[[The Battle of the River Plate (film)|The Battle of the River Plate]]''.

==Return to Germany and last years==

During the four year gap between ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' and ''Oh... Rosalinda!!'', Heckroth returned to Germany, where he became the chief designer at the Frankfurt City Theatre. He also switched from a career in film to one in television. He invited Powell to Germany to direct the television versions of two stage productions he'd been hired to design, ''[[The Sorcerer's Apprentice (1955 film)|The Sorcerer's Apprentice]]'', based on a recent ballet, and ''[[Herzog Blaubarts Burg]]'', based on the [[Béla Bartók]] opera ''[[Duke Bluebeard's Castle]]''.<ref name="Sickliness"/> The last film he designed was [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s ''[[Topaz (1969 film)|Topaz]]'' in 1967. He died in 1970.<ref name="Obituary">{{cite journal |title=Hein Heckroth |date=1970 |journal=The Musical Times |volume=111 |issue=1531 |page=927 |jstor=956185 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/956185 |access-date=20 April 2023}}</ref>

His designs for ''The Red Shoes'' are preserved at [[Museum of Modern Art|MOMA]] in [[New York City]] and the [[British Film Institute]] in [[London]].

==See also== * [[List of German-speaking Academy Award winners and nominees]]

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{IMDb name|id=0373081}} *[https://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=2:161195~T1 Allmovie bio] * {{Screenonline name|id=464379}} * [https://www.hein-heckroth-ges.de Hein-Heckroth-Gesellschaft e.V.] {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heckroth, Hein}} [[Category:1901 births]] [[Category:1970 deaths]] [[Category:Best Production Design Academy Award winners]] [[Category:German art directors]]