Hans Tisdall
Hans Tisdall (nee Aufseeser, 14 August 1910 – 31 January 1997), was a German-born artist, who worked in the UK as a designer and teacher. He is largely remembered for his bookjacket and textile designs. After training in Munich and Berlin, Aufseeser moved to Paris and then London.
Also recorded as Hans Aufseeser Tisdall
Hans Tisdall
- Name
- Hans Tisdall
- Birth Name
- Hans John Knox Aufseeser
- Born
- 14 August 1910
- Birthplace
- Munich, Germany
- Died
- 31 January 1997
- Place of death
- London, England
- Occupation
- Illustrator, painter, textile designer, teacher
- Nationality
- Germany · United Kingdom
- Languages
- German
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Documentary summary
Hans Tisdall (nee Aufseeser, 14 August 1910 – 31 January 1997), was a German-born artist, who worked in the UK as a designer and teacher. He is largely remembered for his bookjacket and textile designs. After training in Munich and Berlin, Aufseeser moved to Paris and then London.
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q17421960 · wikipedia · Hans Tisdall
In this article
Biography
Biography
He changed his name to Tisdall in around 1940, marrying the journalist and Tamesa Fabrics founder Isabel Tisdall in 1941.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Hans Tisdall • Birth Name — Hans John Knox Aufseeser • Born — 14 August 1910 • Birthplace — Munich, Germany • Died — 31 January 1997 • Place of death — London, England • Occupation — Illustrator, painter, textile designer, teacher
Career
Career
Hans Tisdall made his name in the 1930s as a textile designer with Edinburgh Weavers. In the 1960s, he created many designs for Tamesa Fabrics – working alongside designers such as Marianne Straub. Fabrics woven at Warner & Sons were used for a number of prestigious commercial projects. Tisdall was among the designers who contributed to the Festival of Britain in 1951, winning the competition to design the entrance to the funfair at Battersea Park's pleasure gardens. From the 1950s on, Tisdall also became known for creating bookjackets, notably for Jonathan Cape. A typeface based on his brushstroke style, known as Tisdall Script, was created by Michael Harvey in 2001. Another typeface called Blesk, loosely based on his lettering for books by Ivor Brown, was created in 2015. Tisdall taught at Central School (now University of the Arts) from 1947 to 1962, initially in the textile department and later in the school of painting.
Works
Works
• Illustration — The Alchemist's Elements (1967) on Schuster Laboratory Of Tisdall's paintings, Moorings at Kew and two still lifes are in the collection of Manchester Art Gallery and Hastings is part of the collection of Pallant House Gallery in Chichester. Some of his textile designs are held at the Warner Textile Archive in Braintree. A small selection of his designs is held by University of the Arts London.
Exhibitions
Exhibitions
A retrospective of Tisdall's work was held at The Pride Gallery in London in 1988 and at the Galerie Vömel in Düsseldorf shortly before his wife's death in 2007.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1910
Hans Tisdall born at Munich.
1997
Hans Tisdall died at London.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Munich.
Birth place
London.
Death place
Catalogued output
Works and catalogued output
Hans Tisdall is recorded as textile designer, illustrator, painter and graphic artist.
Books
• Hans Tisdall: A Retrospective, The Pride Gallery, 1988,. • Balbus: A Picture Book of Building by Oliver Hill and Hans Tisdall (Pleiades Books Ltd, 1944)
Primary material
Documents and archives
Institutional database
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q17421960: Hans Tisdall
Scholarly · Wikimedia Foundation
reference work
- “Hans Tisdall”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Other sources
Other sources
• Powers, Alan (1997) Obituary: Hans Tisdall, The Independent 7th Feb. https: www.independent.co.uk/incoming/obituary-hans-tisdall-5581928.html [Accessed 7th January 2026]
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Cinamon, Gerald. Hans Tisdall. germandesigners.net. German Designers.
- 2.Powers, Alan. Obituary: Hans Tisdall. The Independent. 7 February 1997.
- 3.Schoeser, Mary. Isabel Tisdall. The Guardian. 12 October 2007.
- 4.Jackson, Lesley. Twentieth Century Pattern Design. Princeton Architectural Press. 151. 2007. 9781568983332.
- 5.Royal Institute of British Architects. Funfair Piazza. ribapix.com.
- 6.University of the Arts. Tisdall; Hans; (1910-1997). arts.ac.uk.
- 7.Identifont. Tisdall Script. identifont.com.
- 8.James, Callum. Dustjacket design: Hans Tisdall. Font Free Endpaper.
- 9.Coles, Stephen. scans of Jonathan Cape jackets. Flickr.
- 10.Samarskaya & Partners. Blesk typeface. Blesk: Official Site.
- 11.Collection. Tisdall, Hans. manchestergalleries.org. Manchester Art Gallery.
- 12.Listing. All art we've helped buy. artfund.org. Artfund.
- 13.Artfund. The Warner Archive by various, c1790-c1990. artfund.org.
- 14.UAL:Central Saint Martins (2019) Museum & Study Collection: Collections Development Policy https://www.arts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0039/179598/Museum-Collections-Development-Policy.pdf
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
Institutional database
Wikidata, structured authority record Q17421960: Hans TisdallWikimedia Foundation
Institutional witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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- Hans WeiditzIllustrator
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