11. Bauhaus, 1919 - 1933 (Gropius, Meyer, van Rohe, Paul Klee, Vassilij Kandinsky, Moholy-Nagy, Farkas Molnár, etc.)
The school originally had three aims: -to abolish the distinction between artist and craftsperson by recognizing the knowledge and skills common to both -to mobilize all arts and crafts towards the creation of total design environments -to foster links between the school and local manufacturers. Bauhaus started as a kind of craftsmen's guild but by the mid-1920s they shifted their stress on uniting art and industrial design. Artists from Bauhaus sought to level the distinction between the fine and applied arts and to reunite creativity and manufacturing. Although the Bauhaus abandoned many aspects of traditional fine arts education, it was deeply concerned with intellectual and theoretical approaches to its subject. Various aspects of artistic and design pedagogy were fused, and the hierarchy of the arts which had stood in place during the Renaissance was levelled out: the practical crafts - architecture and interior design, textiles and woodwork - were placed on the same level as fine arts such as sculpture and painting. Despite the diversity of designers involved, a surprising degree of unity was achieved because every aspect of the project was based on the basic Bauhaus principles of functionalism and geometric rationalism. Purely "decorative" elements were eliminated for the sake of cost-effectiveness in manufacture, efficiency in usage, and harmony in aesthetics. How do they look? Almost all of the objects are straight-edged and right-angled geometry, from the walls, to the window trim, to the furniture, makes them all harmonize with one another, as does the largely white and cream color scheme, enlivened with a few quiet colors. The Bauhaus rejection of decoration did not imply a neglect of aesthetics. For Bauhaus designers, beauty was not something to be added to a functional item in the form of extra frills; instead, it was achieved through careful choices of materials, proportions, textures, and colors for the functional features of the objects.
(Key ideas, Features)
The development of Russian Constructivism in the 1910s provided an immediate and stylistically relevant precedent for the Bauhaus's merging of artistic and technical design. The Bauhaus was influenced by 19th and early-20th-century artistic directions such as the Arts and Crafts movement, as well as Art Nouveau, the Jugendstil and Vienna Secession. Its approach to teaching, and to the relationship between art, society, and technology, had a major impact both in Europe and in the United States. Following the Second World War, the national legacy of the Bauhaus was revived. Max Bill, Moholy-Nagy, and Josef Albers were especially important in adapting the Bauhaus philosophy to a new era: Moholy-Nagy and Albers made it more suitable to a market-oriented culture. Bill played a significant role in spreading geometric abstraction throughout the world in the form of Concrete Art, a successor movement to Constructivism. The stress on experiment and problem-solving which characterized the Bauhaus's approach to teaching became enormously influential on contemporary art education. It has led to the rethinking of the "fine arts" as the "visual arts", and to a reconceptualization of the artistic process as more akin/similar to a research science than to a humanities subject such as literature or history. Their desk lamp and chair are so familiar and so simple that they don't seem to have required a designer, but they were as radical in their time and their apparent simplicity was the result of a thoughtful and meticulous design education and their design process remains a model today.
Connection to the other period
"Vorkurs" (preparatory course) Students studied basics and practiced Experimental constructions before concentrating on a specific medium. The goal was for all of these different specializations to come together in Bau or "building," the creation of total designed environments, from the structure, to the furniture and tableware, to the rugs on the floor and the paintings on the walls.
Courses
• Walter Gropius (1919-1928) • Hannes Meyer (1928-1930) (He openly expressed that he is a marxist, mostly influenced by the Russian constructivists) • Ludwig Mies van Rohe (1930-1933) (Constructing is more than building ahouse, realizing a plan, he was authoritarian)
Directors of the Bauhaus (1919-1933)
-Johannes Itten (very spiritual, wore monk-like clothing and encouraged students to meditate, do breathing exercises, and eat a vegetarian diet as aids to creativity) Johannes Itten was a significant figure at the Bauhaus. He was one of the main masters of the school and had a magnetic effect on the students. Itten's teachings were primarily concerned with physical and spiritual cleansing. He believed that in order to remove the veil of the false world and see the truth, it was necessary to prepare the body with the help of vegetarianism, exercise, fasting, and enemas. At one point, the students of Itten carried out their ritualistic body cleansing in the city fountain of Weimar, which led to conflicts with the city administration. As a result, Walter Gropius relieved Itten from his post in 1923, forcing him to leave the school for good. Despite his departure, Itten's influence on the Bauhaus and its students was profound and long-lasting. -Laszlo Moholy-Nagy -Josef Albers
Heads of the Vorkurs
The Bauhaus was the most influential modernist art school of the 20th century. The origins of the Bauhaus lie in the late 19th century, in anxieties about the soullessness of modern manufacturing(they're against the mechanization of creativity), and fears about art's loss of social relevance. The Bauhaus aimed to reunite fine art and functional design, creating practical objects with the soul of artworks. Bauhaus emerged out of desires to reunite fine and applied art, to push back against the mechanization of creativity, and to reform education. (Who invented it? When? Where?) (School History) The Bauhaus, named after a German word meaning "house of building", was founded in 1919 in Weimar, Germany by the German architect Walter Gropius. The Bauhaus moved to the German industrial town of Dessau in 1925, where it would have its most fruitful period of activity. The Bauhaus, named after a German word meaning "house of building", was founded in 1919 in Weimar, Germany by the German architect Walter Gropius. The Bauhaus moved to the German industrial town of Dessau in 1925, where it would have its most fruitful period of activity. by 1928 Gropius resigns and the Swiss architect Hannes Meyer takes over. Because of increasing battles with the critics in favour of conservative elements in German culture. Meyer was an active communist, and incorporated his political ideas into student organizations and teaching programs. The school continued to grow in strength, but criticism of Meyer's Marxism grew, and he was dismissed as director in 1930. After local elections brought the Nazis to power in Dessau in 1932, the school was again closed and relocated, this time to Berlin. In Berlin, the Bauhaus briefly survived under the direction of the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, a famous advocate of functionalist architecture. He struggled with much fewer resources but his effort was unsuccessful. When the Nazis came to power nationally in 1933, the school was closed permanetly under political pressure. School only lasted for 14 years but professors fleed Nazi Germany and disseminated the school's curriculum and ideals across the United States, which led the enormous influence on our contemporary visual environment. (Sum) - Started by Itten in 1919 (in 1923 Itten left the Bauhaus, because he didn't agree with Gropius on functionalist, and industrial approaches) - From 1924: Josef Albers and László Moholy-Nagy taught pre-courses - The next director, Meyer changed the course to Gestalt psychology, sociology and economics in 1930. - Mies van der Rohe (last dir.) made the course optional. - Objective of the course: selection of the most talented students, homogenization of them, providing it as a tool for creative training. - It missed to include history, natural and environmental studies.
Overview
• Lack of money • Political attacks • There was no Department of Architecture • Inner conflicts and tensions In order to survive, the school needed to reorient its goals toward industrial production. Itten, whose spiritual and expressionist orientation did not fit with these aims, was replaced by Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, and later Josef Albers, as head of the Vorkurs. Bauhaus turned away from the expressionist aesthetic promoted by Itten and embraced a machine aesthetic. A major influence on this shift was De Stijl co-founder Theo van Doesburg, who came to Germany in 1921 to offer courses on De Stijl principles of design that were attended by many Bauhaus students. It meant adopting a cleaner, more rational geometric aesthetic similar to De Stijl's reduction of design to its basic elements: horizontal and vertical lines; the primary colors red, yellow, and blue; and the values black and white.
Problems at the Bauhaus
The Bauhaus, founded by Walter Gropius, was a revolutionary German art school that operated from 1919 to 1933. It was a unique institution that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. The school became known for its radical approach to design and architecture, which sought to integrate art, craft, and technology. The school was characterized by its unique atmosphere, where people from different backgrounds lived and worked together. This led to a vibrant and experimental environment, where ideas were freely exchanged and explored. The school was also known for its outrageous parties, which were seen as an integral part of the training program. Despite its short lifespan, the Bauhaus had a significant impact on the world of design. The school's students created many legendary designs, such as the Wassily Chair by Marcel Breuer and the teapot by Marianne Brandt. The school's main architectural project was its own building in Dessau, designed by Walter Gropius. It was an ode to the functionalism and machine aesthetics of the 20th century. However, the school faced numerous challenges and went through three different stages - Weimar, Dessau, and Berlin, under the direction of three different directors - Walter Gropius, Hans Meyer, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The school was eventually closed by the police in 1933, following Hitler's rise to power. Despite its closure, the Bauhaus's influence continues to be felt in modern art and design. Its products and vision can be seen in art pieces and products around the world.
Summary of Bauhaus
