Bauhaus

The Bauhaus, correctly named the Staatliches Bauhaus, had its origins in the socialist thinking of the Arts and Crafts movement. It began life as a school of art, craft and design in 1919 by the architect Walter Gropius at Weimar in Germany. Its main aim was to develop a functional synthesis of the visual arts by embracing 'architecture and sculpture and painting in one unity'. Its teachings became a major influence on twentieth century art, from architecture to furniture design. The school existed in three German cities (Weimar from 1919 to 1925, Dessau from 1925 to 1932, Berlin from 1932 to 1933), under three different architect-directors (Walter Gropius from 1919 to 1927, Hannes Meyer from 1927 to 1930, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe from 1930 to 1933). The changes of venue and leadership resulted in a constant shifting of focus, technique, instructors, and politics.

Throughout the 1920’s the Bauhaus attracted many prominent artists and sculptors to its staff, such as Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Josef Albers, Lyonel Feininger, Marcel Breuer and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, who introduced the latest Russian Constructivist thinking into the syllabus. In 1925, the school moved to a new building in Dessau that had been designed by Gropius which became a hallmark of modern design. However, when the Nazis came to power, the school – along with many of its staff– was branded as degenerate and in 1933 it was forced to close. Gropius and Moholy-Nagy were among the many artists who fled to the USA where Gropius became Professor of Architecture at Harvard. In 1937, Moholy-Nagy revived the school in Chicago as the New Bauhaus, and was joined there by many of his artist colleagues who had been forced to leave Europe. The school is now the Institute of Design of the Illinois Institute of Technology.