There were also nice surprises in the form of less familiar works by big names, such as serial photographic portraits taken by Josef Albers — kind of cinematic biographies of his colleagues — from the late s and early s. Whilst at the Bauhaus, he produced only two parts of his planned seven-part series which was published by the Utopia Publishing House in Weimar.
As well as the popular hand-puppets made by Paul Klee for his son, other enthralling objects were the personalized diplomas made by fellow students. It comprises the prints of painted stained lips of Bauhaus masters — arranged in neat grids — and a jumbled, frenzied mess of kisses from students, all in cobalt blue and pink, adorned with collaged strips of gothic script from newspapers.
Gropius resigned a year later, and his successor, the Marxist architect Hannes Meyer, encouraged students to adopt an even more utilitarian approach, designing for the masses.
But Meyer also continued the social experiment in communal living. Hence the Bauhaus did not focus solely on architecture, but also on design, ceramics, cinema, sculpture, textiles, installation and theatre.
Contrary to popular belief, the school did not push for a unitary style. Instead, the curriculum nurtured a vast array of styles such as Expressionism and New Objectivity. Other subjects such as mathematics, business management and geometry were offered, while girls had to attend weaving classes.
In fact, despite the professed gender equality, female students were discriminated against and struggled to have their work recognised in traditionally male dominated subjects such as architecture and metal design.
The Swiss painter Johannes Itten greatly defined the early stages of the Bauhaus curriculum, notably by designing the Vorkurs. Itten was an eccentric character, and as a result the school suffered from a cranky reputation in its early years. He was an adept of the esoteric Mazdaznan faith and many students embraced his mystic practices, shaving their heads, wearing loose robes, and following a specific macrobiotic diet.
However, the school took a new direction from , embracing standardisation and mass production through the new unity of art and technology.
The Bauhaus offered students an apprenticeship that went beyond educational purposes — something akin to a spiritual awakening. Liberties such as parading through the city, skinny-dipping in the Ilm River, wearing eccentric costumes and even extramarital sex were encouraged — profoundly shocking the Weimar conservatism prevalent in those times.
Bauhaus parties became notorious and Gropius once even dressed up as his rival Le Corbusier. One of the most influential art and design schools of the 20th century, the Bauhaus meaning: house of construction was opened in by Gropius in Weimar, Germany.
In so doing, an avant-garde movement was born that encouraged bold design, humour, and the participation of both men and women in the process of production. The school eventually moved to Dessau and then to Berlin, where it was shut in due to pressure from the Nazis, but not before amassing a collection of enduring and influential designs for furniture, lighting, architecture, painting, weaving, sculpture and photography.
Gropius had left the school in , believing that he personally was a lightning rod for the political pressures the school had always been forced to defend against. Unfortunately and apparently unknown to Gropius , Hannes Meyer, in whom Gropius had entrusted the directorship, was a closeted Communist party member who the National Socialists pressured to resign in Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, a Prussian architect, was the final director. In , forced by the conservative government at Weimar to leave, the Bauhaus was invited by the city of Dessau to move there.
Upon the advent of the National Socialist Government in , the school was forced to leave Dessau and its famous buildings. In April, , the Nationalist Socialist Storm Troopers forcibly removed the students and faculty from the old factory where they had been holding classes. No explanation of this move has been issued by the Government. Classes are at present being held in the houses of the various professors.
The future is uncertain. After leaving the school, Gropius returned to private practice first in Berlin, and then, in , escaped Germany to Great Britain. Other Bauhaus faculty followed suit, leaving Germany as the Nazi party gained power. In , Josef began to teach at Yale, where he finished his academic career. Klee and Kandinsky lived and worked in Europe for the remainder of their lives, but never again in Germany.
They became two of the most important and influential painters of the 20th Century. Herbert Bayer, the typographic designer, stayed in Germany and worked briefly for the Third Reich as a designer. He later immigrated to the United States to work. Several promising students and prominent faculty are known to have perished in the Nazi death camps, and the fates of many others are simply unknown Webber.
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