Bauhaus 1919-1933: Workshops for Modernity

by Barry Bergdoll, Leah Dickerman, Benjamin H.D. Buchloh

The Bauhaus, the school of art and design founded in Germany in 1919 and shut down by the Nazis in 1933, brought together artists, architects and designers--among them Anni and Josef Albers, Herbert Bayer, Marcel Breuer, Lyonel Feininger, Walter Gropius, Johannes Itten, Vasily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, László Moholy-Nagy, Lilly Reich, Oskar Schlemmer, Gunta Stölzl--in an extraordinary conversation on the nature of art in the industrial age. Aiming to rethink the form of modern life, the Bauhaus became the site of a dazzling array of experiments in the visual arts that have profoundly shaped the world today. Bauhaus 1919-1933: Workshops for Modernity , published to accompany a major multimedia exhibition, is The Museum of Modern Art's first comprehensive treatment of the subject since its famous Bauhaus exhibition of 1938, and offers a new generational perspective on the twentieth century's most influential experiment in artistic education. Organized in collaboration with the three major Bauhaus collections in Germany (the Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin, the Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau and the Klassic Stiftung Weimar), Bauhaus 1919-1933 examines the extraordinarily broad spectrum of the school's products, including industrial design, furniture, architecture, graphics, photography, textiles, ceramics, theater and costume design, painting and sculpture. Many of the objects discussed and illustrated here have rarely if ever been seen or published outside Germany. Featuring approximately 400 color plates, richly complemented by documentary images, Bauhaus 1919-1933 includes two overarching essays by the exhibition's curators, Barry Bergdoll and Leah Dickerman, that present new perspectives on the Bauhaus. Shorter essays by more than 20 leading scholars apply contemporary viewpoints to 30 key Bauhaus objects, and an illustrated narrative chronology provides a dynamic glimpse of the Bauhaus' lived history.

Genres: Art, Architecture, Nonfiction, Design, Cultural, History

328 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2009

About the author

Barry Bergdoll is professor of architectural history in the department of art history and archaeology at Columbia University and the Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Reviews

[E. G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Director's Foreword, by Glenn D. Lowry
Lenders to the Exhibition
Acknowledgments
Curator's Preface, by Barry Bergdoll and Leah Dickerman

--Bauhaus Fundaments, Leah Dickerman
--Bauhaus Multiplied: Paradoxes of Architecture and Design in and after the Bauhaus, Barry Bergdoll

Plates
--Walter Gropius and Lyonel Feininger: Bauhaus Manifesto. 1919, Charles W. Haxthausen
--Lothar Schreyer: Death House for a Woman. c.1920, Klaus Weber
--Walter Determann: Bauhaus Settlement Weimar. 1920, Marco de Michelis
--Josef Albers: Lattice Picture. 1921, Peter Nisbet
--Marcel Breuer and Gunta Stölzl: "African" Chair. 1921, Christopher Wilk
--Theodor Bogler: Teapots. 1923, Juliet Kinchin
--Unknown Weaver, possibly Else Mögelin Wall Hanging. 1923, T'ai Smith
--Vasily Kandinsky: Designs for Wall Paintings. 1922, Christine Mehring
--László Moholy-Nagy: Constructions in Enamel. 1923, Brigid Doherty
--Wilhelm Wagenfeld and Carl Jakob Jucker: Table Lamp. 1923-24, Frederic J. Schwartz
--Joseph Hartwig: Chess Sets. 1922-24, Benjamin H. D. Buchloh
--Alma Buscher: "Ship" Building Toy. 1923, Christine Mehring
--Oskar Schlemmer: Grotesque I. 1923, Paul Paret
--Oskar Schlemmer: Study for the Triadic Ballet. 1924, Paul Paret
--Herbert Bayer: Advertising Structures. 1924-25, Hal Foster
--Color Plans for Architecture. 1925-26, Marco de Michelis
--Walter Gropius and László Moholy-Nagy: Bauhaus Book Series. 1925-30, Adrian Sudhalter
--Herbert Bayer: Designs for "Universal" Lettering. 1925 and 1927, Ellen Lupton
--Gunta Stölzl: 5 Choirs. 1928, T'ai Smith
--László Moholy-Nagy: Photograms, Michael W. Jennings
--Marcel Breuer: Club Chair, Frederic J. Schwartz
--Lucia Moholy: Photograph of Georg Muche. 1927, Matthew S. Witkovsky
--Marianne Brandt: Our Unnerving City. 1926, Matthew S. Witkovsky
--Hannes Meyer: German Trade Unions School, Bernau. 1928-30, Detlef Mertins
--Exercises for Color Theory Courses, Hal Foster
--László Moholy-Nagy: Light Prop for an Electric Stage. 1930, Alex Potts
--Wallpaper Design, Juliet Kinchin
--Paul Klee: Fire in the Evening. 1929, Alex Potts
--Pius Pahl: House C. 1932-33, Detlef Mertins
--Oskar Schlemmer: Bauhaus Stairway. 1932, Andreas Huyssen

--14 Years Bauhaus: A Chronicle, Adrian Sudhalter with Research Contributions by Dara Kiese

Index
Photograph Credits
Trustees of The Museum of Modern Art

[Illiterate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Bauhaus’ (post 1923?) simplicity & functionalism. I’m less keen on its geometric shapes & industrial materials. (Schlemmer’s Triadische Ballet is on YouTube.)

[Shrike58 · Rating 4 out of 5]

When the Museum of Modern Art brought out this catalogue back in 2009, it's arguable that one could still uncritically regard the Bauhaus as one of the the great utopian experiments of the 20th century. Amongst all the fascinating objects, images, and concepts however, it turns out that there is a crack in the substance. While Walter Gropius might have claimed that his school was open to anyone, and that he was aiming for a unity of craft and art, he mostly envisioned running an architectural school for men, when the reality is that the Bauhaus evolved into a graphic and industrial design operation where women made up the bulk of the student body. This was a reality Gropius seemed to have issues coping with. To be fair, this work does pick up on some of these tensions, but I wound up having to poke around on YouTube to get a more critical examination of what was going on, with Geoffrey Bunting being particularly helpful in playing up the role of Gunta Stolzl, a woman of strong backbone who managed to impose her will on the befuddled men who fancied themselves to be "New Masters," not the other way around. I still had a good time with this book, but I now long for a study that gives one a better sense of what the female rank and file really thought about their Bauhaus experience.

[Dawson Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

im really more of a "function follows form" than the bauhaus's "form follows function" but I still love them

[N · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be fair, I should note that I didn't extensively read the text and essays printed in this. It's is an awfully wordy book for being an "art" book, and in some ways it's a shame as many of the images of the art or the art itself is in small size, it would seem, to make ample room for the academic chatter. 5 stars for the art, 3 stars for all the longwinded written "insights".

[Cameron Toney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I honestly didn't know much about the Bauhaus movement, but this book is set to fix that. This is a very in depth look at the Bauhaus workshops, thoroughly researched and full of both reading materials and beautiful pictures.
Honestly, it's not my favorite art style, (too blocky, in some cases) but some of this is gorgeous. I am especially delighted with the works playing with color, and the weavings.
It makes me want to learn more.