It is 1932 and the Nazi Storm Troopers occupy the Bauhaus school in Dessau, Germany. In the right-wing press, it is seen as a Jewish-Bolshevik enclave, a den of degenerate and racially impure artists. The Storm Troopers destroy much of what they find, demolish the iconic Bauhaus sign located outside the school and turn it into an officer training facility. The Bauhaus school relocates to Berlin but again, it is attacked and forced to close in 1933. Many of its artists and teachers like Anni Albert, Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky have no choice but to flee and emigrate. The founder of the Bauhaus Movement, Walter Gropius, emigrates to the United States and goes on to teach at Harvard. This is what the Nazis saw and did but let’s take a real look at the Bauhaus Movement. A movement whose influence the Nazis were not able to stop and its impact is still felt today in fields like architecture, design, furniture making, art, cinema and even in the written word with a signature typeface that is still used today.
Prominent architect Walter Gropius had a vision. Gropius, nicknamed The Silver Prince, wanted to establish a new educational system where all the artistic fields would be under one roof. No more separation between an artist and a craftsman. Both artists and artisans would be seen on equal footing. The artist had to become familiar with materials and techniques, usually reserved for the crafts maker. No more separation between painting, sculpture and architecture. All these fields would be able to grow by learning and informing one another. At the same time, artistic talent would be channeled into producing objects for mass production and function. With this goal in mind, Gropius designed a building which was named the Bauhaus. Bauhaus in German means ‘construction house’. This building was located in Weimar, Germany, the original site of the Bauhaus school. It contained many of the features that have come to define modern architecture such as a steel-frame construction, a glass window wall to provide natural light and ventilation, a pinwheel plan. The asymmetrical configuration of the plan allowed Gropius to make the most efficient use of space in apportioning studios, classrooms and administrative areas.
What started out as a school, quickly solidified into a movement with clearly defined aesthetic guidelines. The Bauhaus philosophy was ‘form follows function’ and ‘less is more’. Walter Gropius explains: “Our guiding principle was that design is neither an intellectual nor a material affair, but simply an integral part of the stuff of life, necessary for everyone in a civilized society.” Another distinguishing characteristic of the Bauhaus school was its stellar staff, many of them accomplished artists in their own fields. In addition to the architect Walter Gropius, artist Paul Klee, textile artist Anni Albers, architect and furniture designer Marcel Breuer and metalworker Marianne Brandt were on board. In 1922, Walter Gropius asked abstract artist Wassily Kandinsky to join the teaching staff.
Paul Klee, an artist whose very individual style was influenced by Cubism and Surrealism, taught at the Bauhaus from 1921 - 1931. He was a prolific teacher and his classes ranged from bookbinding to basic design. He taught his students that line, form and color were the essential components of any artwork. His lesson plan consisted of the following key points:
Lesson 1 Take a line for a walk. The many ways in which a point could become a line.
Lesson 2 Observe the fish tank. He invited his students to look at his fish tank to emphasis the importance of movement in a composition.
Lesson 3 Draw the circular system. Klee encouraged his students to understand the circulatory flow of blood through the body which he found similar to the creative artistic process.
Lesson 4 Weigh the colors. He emphasized the importance of color as it relates to other colors in creating harmonious or clashing color combinations.
Lesson 5 Study the Great Masters. Analyze their works based on their use of line, form and color.
Although the manifesto that Walter Gropius put together featured equality between men and women, most women were encouraged to go into fields that were considered more appropriate for them like the textile workshop. Although Anni Albers was at first disappointed, she soon put her knowledge, skills and innovative nature into developing textiles with geometric and modern designs which were representative of the Bauhaus spirit. She soon found out that learning textile at the Bauhaus was a far cry from what was known as ladies’ embroidery but it elevated weaving to the standards of the Renaissance where many of the weavers had been men. Albers went on to join the teaching staff and was one of the few Bauhaus-trained women to achieve success. Her textiles were exhibited at MOMA in 1949.
If we think of Bauhaus furniture, the most iconic pieces would have to be the Wassily Chair and the Cesca Chair, designed by architect and furniture designer Marcel Breuer, head of the cabinet making workshop. The New York Times referred to them as some of the most important chairs of the 20th century. The Wassily chair, designed in 1925, took its inspiration from a bicycle frame. It combines curved steel tubes with leather straps into a comfortable but sculpted minimalist look. It became known as the Wassily chair because of Kandinsky's admiration for it. Although the Cesca Chair was designed after Marcel Breuer left the Bauhaus in 1928, its design and use of materials are obviously a result of the years he spent there. It consists of a tubular frame and a rattan seat and backing. It was named after Breuer's adopted daughter, Francesca, nicknamed Cesca. These chairs like so much of what was produced at the Bauhaus were designed for mass production.
The Russian born painter Wassily Kandinsky was head of painting and directed the painting workshop. He taught basic design, abstract painting and shared his color theory with his students. He saw emotional and spiritual characteristics in colors and that these qualities influenced the human soul. For example, he associated blue with coolness, depth, and the supernatural. In contrast, red brought to mind fire, warmth and stimulation. Kandinsky further asserted that colors were divided into cool and warm groups and could be arranged into ‘color symphonies’ of harmony or dissonance. Kandinsky also incorporated geometric forms in his work and theories.
One woman, whose sex did not alter her career choice, was metalworker Marianne Brandt. She was the first woman to attend the metalworking workshop and became its studio director in 1928. The metalworking and cabinetmaking workshops were the most successful in developing prototypes for mass production. We tend to think of mass-produced items as products of inferior quality but the Bauhaus prototypes were not only modern in design but they were meticulously crafted so that its function was never secondary to form. Brandt’s iconic designs are timeless. Her silver and ebony teapot was designed with careful attention to ease of use, no drip spout and a heat resistant handle. Her prototypes exemplified the Bauhaus principles of design:
Rationalism. To work with a minimum of shapes and colors.
Functionalism. No decorative frills. Emphasis is on making easy-to-use objects.
Formalism. To use materials in ways that suit their inner qualities, i.e. metal is sheen and flexible while glass is transparent and brittle.
Design. The prototype is mass-produced in the most efficient way.
So, the Nazis stomped like madmen through the halls of the Bauhaus and destroyed as much as they could find but you cannot destroy progress and the artistic spirit. You can hinder it but never stop it.
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