Inside Bauhaus

TABLE OF CONTENTS by wang phan

TABLE OF CONTENTS by kimberlee osmun

CHRONOLOGY .......................... 1 by greg ciro tornincasa

HISTORY ..................................... 2 by sandra bradley

THE ARTISTS ............................... 6 by wang phan & kimberlee osmun

BRADLEY MANIFESTO ............ 13 by sandra bradley

BAUHAUS CONCEPTS ............ 17 by greg ciro tornincasa

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CHRONOLOGY

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1919

FEELING BAUHAUS ................. 23

The Bauhaus, founded in Weimar 1919 by Walter Gropius.

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The Bauhaus experiences first public hostility. The attacks are ideological, but flare up in the context of artistic issues.

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Gropius and Adolf Meyer build the Haus Sommerfeld in Berlin in an expressionist style. It is the first project involving the aspired unity of arts in architecture.

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Gropius restructures his ideas as to the aims of the Bauhaus. The major focus is directed towards reflecting on industrial methods of production and their consequences for design.

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Preparations start for the “Bauhaus Exhibition”, planned as a first comprehensive public account of the schoolʼs activities. Gropius coins his new concept in the slogan “Art and technology - a new unity” and thereby recognizes industry as a decisive power of the

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The “Circle of Friends of the Bauhaus” is founded in order to offer moral and practical support for the school. Under political and financial pressure, the masters decide to close the school in April of 1925.

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Gropius proclaims a new program dominated by the importance of industry and science for design. In March, the municipal council of Dessau, on the initiative of the Lord Mayor Fritz Hesse, decides to take over the Bauhaus as a municipal school.

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On December 4, over 1,000 guests attend the opening of the new school building in Dessau designed by Gropius and equipped by the Bauhaus workshops. The spectacular new buildings - as well as the school building the houses for the Bauhaus masters and the housing project in Dessau - achieve international fame.

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A department for architecture is set up under the guidance of Hannes Meyer. Klee and Kandinsky give courses in free painting; the first purely artistic courses to be available.

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Gropius resigns from the Bauhaus in April to go to Berlin to work as an architect. Moholy-Nagy, Bayer, and Breuer also quit the school.

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A department for photography is created under Peterhans. Ludwig Hilberseimer is appointed to the building department.

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Bauhaus wallpaper is put on the market and becomes the most successful commercial product of the school.

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The elections for the municipal council of Dessau take place. The first point of their election campaign concerns cutting financial support to the Bauhaus and the demolition of its buildings.

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The school counts 14 students. Kandinsky, Albers, Hilberseimer, Reich, and Peterhans are still on the teaching staff. A bill was passed to close the Bauhaus school. Mies van der Rohe decides to continue the school as a private institute in Berlin.

kimberlee osmun

LOVE TRIANGLES .................... 27 by wang phan

BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................ 31 by greg ciro tornincasa

BACK COVER

by greg ciro tornincasa

1933

On April 11, at the start of the summer semester, the Bauhaus building undergoes a police search and is placed under seal. 32 students are temporarily arrested. On July 20, the final dissolution of the Bauhaus is decided upon at a staff conference. The most prominent Bauhaus teachers emigrated over to the United States and through parts of Europe.

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ROOTS OF BAUHAUS:

J O O S T S C H M I D T P O S T E R F O R T H E 19 2 3 B A U HAUS EXHIBITION IN WEIMAR

Bauhaus can be traced to the the Deutsches Werkbund movement in Germany which sought to elevate the production of everyday objects from utilitarian to art. Werkbund gathered architects, artists, factory owners and art patrons together in 1097 to provide impetus and financial support to experimental design, architecture, textile, furniture design, and fine art. It failed. Walter Gropius, a German architect, was a leader of the Werkbund movement. And he rekindled the Werkbund intentions and philosophy when he was invited to head a new school in Weimer, Germany. This new school resulted in the merger the Weimer Art Academy and the Weimer Arts and Crafts which, in 1919, became the Bauhaus school.

GROPIUSʼ MANIFESTO: Here is the excerpt from the manifesto: w“The ultimate aim of all creative activity is a building! The decoration of buildings was once the noblest function of fine arts, and fine arts were indispensable to great architecture. Today they exist in complacent isolation, and can only be rescued by the conscious co-operation and collaboration of all craftsmen. Architects, painters, and sculptors must once again come to know and comprehend the composite character of a building, both as an entity and in terms of its various parts. Then their work will be filled with that true architectonic spirit which, as “salon art”, it has lost.” ... “Architects, painters, sculptors, we must all return to crafts! For there is no such thing as “professional art”. There is no essential difference between the artist and the craftsman. The artist is an exalted craftsman.” ... “Let us therefore create a new guild of craftsmen without the class-distinctions that raise an arrogant barrier between craftsmen and artists! Let us desire, conceive, and create the new building of the future together. It will combine architecture, sculpture, and painting in a single form.”

BAUHAUS, [ ger., lit. “Architecture House”, From Bau = Building

(Bauen=to Build) + Haus = house.

BAUHAUS GOALS: 1) Encourge the individual artisan and craftmans to work cooperatively and combine their skills; 2) Elevate the status of crafts, chairs, lamps, teapots, etc., to the same level enjoyed by fine arts, painting, scultping, etc., 3) Eventually gain independence from government support by selling designs to industry. WALTER GROPIUS BAUHAUS MANIFESTO WOODCUT C O V E R L Y O N E L F E I N I N G E R 1919

BAUHAUS SCHOOL:

POLITICAL CLIMATE:

The origins of Bauhaus were far from the earlier methods of education in industrial art, art proper and architecture. Its program was based on the newest knowledge in pedagogy. The idealistic basis of Bauhaus was a socially orientated program. An artist must be conscious of his social responsibility to the community, on the other hand, the community has to accept the artist and support him.

Germany was defeated in WWI, the economy collapsed and it seemed evident that a new order of thinking would be necessary in order to bring Germany, and the rest of Europe, back to stability. While some looked to Marxism, others to fascism, all seemed to turn against the bourgeois ideals of capitalism. The “worker” became the new Hero. Fulfilling his “needs” became the Mission of the intellectuals and planners of the new order.

The Bauhaus faculty came from all over Europe, and included Josef Albers, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Johannes Itten, Wassilly Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Marcel Breuer, Lyonel Feiniger, and Hannes Meyer. The basic idea of the Bauhaus teaching concept was the unity of artistic and practical tuition. Every student had to complete a compulsory preliminary course, after which he or she had to enter a workshop of his or her choice. There were several types of workshops available: metal, wood sculpture, glass painting, weaving, pottery, furniture, cabinet making, three-dimensional work, typography, wall painting, some others.

THE BAUHAUS BUILDING SEEN FROM THE SOUTH WEST B A C K C O V E R O F A B R O C H U R E F O R T H E C I T Y O F D E S S A U I N 19 3 1 B Y JOOST SCHMIDT

BAUHAUS CHARACTERISTICS IN GRAPHIC DESIGN: Geometric, functional and modern

Typography without capitals - San Serif

Order, asymmetry

Introduction of flush left - rag right typography

Rectangular grid structure Circles, squares, rectangles, triangles, bars, and rules to unify or separate elements versus being used for decoration Horizontals and verticals were dominant Extreme contrast in type size and weight to achieve various degrees of emphasis Type and pictures sized to the same column width

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Copy rotated 90 degrees Only structurally essential components used Elementary forms and the use of black plus one bright hue

BAUHAUS EMBRACED: The industrial age and the workshops were the birthplaces of new industrial designs. For example, thousands of experiments with textiles were performed. Many of them were adopted by the factories for production, and they were also eagerly copied. Photography was taken more seriously as an art form. Innovation ran rampant through the Bauhaus resulting in a multitude of advances affecting the most basic aspects of life. If youʼve ever sat on a chair with a tubular steel frame, used an adjustable reading lamp, or lived in a house partly or entirely constructed from prefabricated elements, you have benefited from a revolution in design largely brought about by the Bauhaus.

Color tints emphasize key words Open composition on an implied grid system of sizes for type, rules, and pictorial images brought unity to the designs

A R I A N N E B R A N D T S M A L L T E A - E S S E N C E P O T 19 2 4

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BAUHAUS DEMISE: Bauhaus in general was not embraced by the public, industry, nor government. The Nazis saw Bauhaus as haven for Jews, Bolsheviks, and cosmopolitan “nonGerman” viewpoints . In 1932, the Nazis gained control of city parliament, and forced the Bauhaus school to close. And by April 1933, Bauhaus was no more in Germany. L A S Z L O M O H O L Y - N A G Y, U N T I T L E D C O N S T R U C T I O N 19 2 2 T E M P E R A & C O L L A G E O N P A N E L

INFLUENCES OF BAUHAUS: Constructivism is a term used to define a type of totally abstract (non-representational) relief construction, sculpture, kinetics and painting. The work is ordered and often minimal, geometric, spatial, architectonic and experimental in the use of industrial material. The principles of constructivism theory are derived from three main movements that evolved in the early part of the 20th century: Suprematism in Russia, De Stijl (Neo Plasticism) in Holland and the Bauhaus in Germany.

RUSSIA 1910-1921: During the early part of this period the Russian avant-garde embraced Cubism and Futurism and moved toward a non-objective art (art without subject) exemplified by Kasmir Malevichʼs development of Suprematism. The Suprematists deliberately given up objective representation of their surroundings in order to reach the summit of the true “unmasked” art and from this vantage point to view life through the prism of pure artistic feeling. In 1913-14 Vladimir Tatlin made and exhibited several relief constructions using industrial materials inspired by the Furturist Umberto Boccioniʼs vision of ʻplastic configurations in spaceʼ and the 3D collages seen in Picassoʼs Paris studio. Tatlin used the term Constructivism to describe these works.

P I E T M O D R I A N , C O M P O S I T I O N W I T H R E D , Y E L L O W A N D B L U E 19 2 0 O I L O N C A N V A S

THE NEW BAUHAUS:

DE STILJ 1917- 1931: Theo van Doesburg and Piet Mondrian formed the Dutch De Stijl group in 1917. Mondrian developed his distinctive style of nonrepresentational grid painting independently from the Russians. De Stijl established the strictly horizontal/vertical format that became known as Neo Plasticism.

In the wake of Nazi power, former Bauhaus students and teachers fled Germany. Many emigrated to the United States. Gropius was made head of the swaus in 1930, was installed as dean of architecture at the Armour Institute in Chicago. One significant outcome of the new Bauhaus in the United States is the International Style architecture. The term International Style was applied to the American form of Bauhaus architecture. The name came from the book The International Style by historian and critic HenryRussell Hitchcock and architect Philip Johnson.

L A S Z L O M O H O L Y - N A G Y, P H O T O G R A M 19 2 2

Bauhaus buildings have flat roofs, smooth façades and cubic shapes. Colors are white, gray, beige or black. Floor plans are open and furniture is functional. While Bauhaus architecture had been concerned with the social aspects of design, Americaʼs International Style became a symbolism of Capitalism.

T H E O V A N D O E S B U R G , C O M P O S T I O N 2 2 19 2 0 - 2 2

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THE ARTISTS WALTER GROPIUS Born in Berlin in 1883, began studying architecture at the age of 20. He is mostly known for creating the bauhaus, a multi-disciplinary design school that pushed innovation. Bauhaus was a merger between Weimar Art Academy and Weimar Arts and Crafts. The bauhaus had great master teaching various mediums from painting, industrial design, photography, architecture and other forms of design. Though Gropius is known for his bauhaus involvement, his reputation actually began to build while working with Adolf Meyer constructing buildings. They designed 2 buildings that made him famous throughout Europe, the Fagus Works in Alfeld and factory buildings for the Cologne Werkbund exhibition. Gropius left Germany in 1934 due to Nazi opposition. He later joined the architecture department of Harvard University. He introduced the bauhaus design concepts and pushed for standardization and prefabrication. Gropius created innovative designs that borrowed materials and methods of construction from modern technology. Using technology as a basis, he transformed building into a science of precise mathematical calculations.

WA LT ER GROPIUSʻ HOUSE SEEN FROM T HE SOU T H W ES T THE BAUHAUS BUILDING SEEN FROM THE SOUTH WEST

WASSILY KANDINSKY was born in Moscow in 1866. Kandinsky learned to play piano and cello at an early age. His paintings are greatly influenced by music. While at the University in Moscow, Kandinsky studied law and economics. He also spent his time writing about spirituality. At age thirty, Kandinsky left Moscow and went to study life-drawing, sketching and anatomy in Munich. Kandinsky is considered to be the founder of abstract art, his work was exhibited throughout Europe from 1903 onwards, and often caused controversy among the public, the art critics, and his contemporaries. Kandinsky viewed his compositions as major statements of his artistic ideas. They share several characteristics that express this monumentality: the impressively large format, the conscious, deliberate planning of the composition, and the transcendence of representation by increasingly abstract imagery. Just as symphonies define milestones in the career of a composer, Kandinskyʼs compositions represented the culmination of his artistic vision at a given moment in his career.

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S M A L L P L E A S U R E S , J U N E 19 13 . O I L C A N V A S , 4 3 1/4 X 4 7 1/ 8 I N C H E S . O N W H I T E I I , 19 2 3 O I L O N C A N V A S , 1 0 5 X 9 8 C M

U P W A R D ( E M P O R ) , O C T O B E R 19 2 9. O I L O N C A RDBOA RD, 70 X 49 C M .

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THE ARTISTS LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGYʼS Nagy taught the theoretical aspects of art and communication arts he believed intuition in the creative process was indispensable and it was necessary to combine conscious analysis with the powers of dynamic intuition. cvFormulae alone could never be the sole basis for creation. Through his view that art could be harnessed for collective social reform he strove to define an objective science of essential forms, colors, and materials, the use of which would promote a more unified social environment.

A I I , 19 2 4 . O I L O N C A N V A S , 4 5 5 / 8 X 5 3 5 / 8 "

In order to successfully communicate meaning to a public he believed that art must parallel contemporary reality, and he achieved this by using geometric abstraction. His first painting on clear plastic created a profound interest in the effects of light, which would later be evident in his photographic artwork.

A X L I I , 19 2 7. O I L O N C A N V A S , 3 7 X 2 9 1/ 8 "

19 3 7 - 3 8 C O L O R P R I N T , A S S E M B L Y ( V I V E X ) P RO CE SS 3 4.9 X 26.5 C M .

In figure A II and AXL II we see how he has created a three dimensional space using almost translucent shapes that overlap each other.

JOSEF ALBERS Through his teachings of design and the behavior of materials Josef Albers helped students develop an understanding of “the static and dynamic properties of materials . . . through direct experience.”. He did this by giving his students wire netting, matchboxes, phonograph needles, razor blades, and other unusual materials to create constructions of art. In his own work he began to investigate color theory and composition through mathematical proportions as a way to achieve balance and unity in his art. He did not profess metaphysical concerns, Albers believed that “Art is spirit, and only the quality of spirit gives the arts an important place in … life.” Through “accidental” effects such as ripples and bubbles inherent in the medium of stained glass he created sophisticated designs that explored the balance, and opacity. His artwork often heavily documented as to the proportions and mathematical schemes are evident in his later works such as Homage to the Square. He was concerned that future generations understand his often stringent working methods, however he also believed “Any form [of art] is acceptable if it is true, And if it is true, itʼs ethical and aesthetic.”

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S P I X ( 19 6 7 ) S C R E E N P R I N T 2 4 . 5 X 2 4 . 5 P A P E R , 19. 5 X 19. 5

FRONTAL, SANDBL ASTED FL ASHED GL ASS W I T H F I R E D B L A C K G L A S S E N A M E L . 13 3 / 16 X 18 3 / 8 ", 19 2 7. GL A SS A SSE MBL AGE MOUN T ED ON A BR A SS SHEE T, 5 4 . 6 X 3 9. 4 C M

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THE ARTISTS

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PAUL KLEE Being born into a family of musicians Kleeʼs work was often gently and humorous with allusions of dreams music and poetry in small scale delicate paintings, watercolors and drawings. Influenced by Francisco de Goya his earlier works combine satirical, grotesque and surreal elements in etchings as well as pen and ink. Klee also gives further dimensions of meaning to his work by giving them peculiar and evocative titles. After his visit to Tunisia he was so overwhelmed by color that he wrote: ”Color has taken possession of me; no longer do I have to chase after it, I know that it has hold of me forever. That is the significance of this blessed moment. Color and I are one. I am a painter.” This new love for color is evident in his piece Red and White Dome, a built up composition of colored squares that have a distinctive radiance.

R E D A N D W H I T E D O M E S 19 1 4 W A T E R C O L O R AND BODY COLOR ON JAPANESE VELLUM M O U N T E D O N C A R D B O A R D 1 4 . 6 X 13 . 7 C M

H E A D O F M A N ( G O I N G S E N I L E , 19 2 2 ) 2 2 I N . X 2 8 "

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“Art does not reproduce the visible, it makes visible,” Klee later believed that through a wide range of media using inventive techniques complex symbols and signs he could communicate and create visible messages. He did this through line and color creating several mosaics and producing other effects.

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SANDRA BRADLEY

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GREG CIRO TORNINCASA

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Click in the movie box below to view BAUHAUS CONCEPTS pop-up

From the Bauhaus School came

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CONCEPTS the use of strong horizontal and vertical rules along with bold primary colors. Geometric shapes unified or separated elements rather than being used as decoration. These were all typical elements of the Bauhaus style which played a major role in the visual communication of information.

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KIMBERLEE OSMUN

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Feeling BAUHAUS ask the simple question what do you feel when you see a piece of artwork

or architecture from this period. After studying the Bauhaus movement, I felt it was unlike most other movements. I think it goes a little deeper and is maybe often unrecognized. It does not offer gratification, one must think about how it makes them feel. Perhaps this is due to the idea that Bauhaus art often serves more of a function rather than just being a piece of art. I decided to explore this issue by interviewing my friend Sarah Arthur, not just because she is my friend, but because she had taken classes in architecture appreciation and was quite familiar with the Bauhaus movement. As I interviewed her I realized this question was more challenging than I had imagined, yet extremely interesting and fascinating. Please enjoy the images and interview bellow!

After looking at all of these objects and architecture I finally decided to show her a painting by Klee, in black and white, “Struck From The List”. Even though it was in black and white she saw blue, red and a little green. She thought the composition looked like a poised feminine lady with a hair bun. This figure looked nurturing pragmatic caring attached bored. Immediately it reminded me of a picture I took of my friend Heather many years ago, detached cold yet inviting, looking forward.

The third piece was a table by Albers. It made her think of infinity it just kept going. It made her feel like making something, she could imagine a workshop with tools.

Gropius Masters looked like a Miami Nightclub because of the railings, flat walls and glass. She thought it was clean artistic, interesting, balanced, but not. It was contrasted divided not a lot of windows but open.

The first picture I showed her was “Albers Bowl”, She said it reminded her of the 70’s and it looked like an ashtray. Her mood was hard, unemotional, and she implied that it had no mood or feeling. She felt that it was more of an everyday object something rational.

Next I showed her a black and white photo of “Albers Glass”, this reminded her of cubism, by Picasso, work by Frank Loyd Wright, or even a Catholic Church. I remembered that while in France she was moved by the Pantheon, which served as a church from time to time. Her mood was artsy intellectual, sunny, and carefree.

The Bauhaus building reminded her of a shoebox or a train station, it was industrious, creative, focused, concentrated.

FEELINGBAUHAUS HOME

WANG PHAN

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see her on Thursdays at three oʼclock. Thatʼs the time when lives intersect, like accidental grid patterns.

Bright blue buses juxtaposed against tall white buildings. The city is busy. The girl is like a circle in a room full of squares. I canʼt help but to stare. Simple, undecorated, uncomplicated. The beauty is in her eyes. I find myself standing still in the middle of the sidewalk. I feel weightless, ungrounded, - a sense of freedom. This is how she makes me feel. The bus comes to a stop accompanied by thin screeches and heavy rumbles.

Waiting in the bus line, I wonder how the city looks like from above. As I get onto the bus, I naturally sit myself parallel to her. The girl with no name. Plastic chairs and metal bars. Everything on the bus is lined up and well-organized. My eyes naturally wander. Iʼm telling you, she looks cute. To get her attention, should I scream, or should I whisper? The whisper seems to be effective, through soft spoken words my ideas are emphasized. “Excuse me, do you know how I can get to the beach?” I really donʼt care for the beach, but I donʼt know what else to ask her. She gives me a shy half smile before she responds. She is telling me the directions, but Iʼm too busy staring at her to listen. All I know is, her voice sings like music against the background ambience of the buses and the city noise. After receiving directions to the beach, I ran out of things to ask her. I ran out of things to say, like sitting alone on an empty page looking for a line to follow. Time passes. The light blinks. The bus stops. The red blinking light - itʼs like looking at myself in the mirror. She walks off the steel platform looking at me with a shy half smile thatʼs making me run around in circles. I look through the back window as the bus takes off. I see her fading into the distance, like a moving painting beautifully framed by the busʼ window trimmings. I canʼt help but to smile. I cover my face realizing that this girl has gotten to me. Next Thursday, I will see her again, but for now, Iʼm happy being innocently infatuated.

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history resources Bauhaus, bauhaus archiv magdalena droste 1919-1933. 2002 Published by the Bauhaus-Archiv fur Gestaltung Klingelhoferstr. 14, D-10785 Berlin Gordeeva, Tatyana “The Beginning and The Goals of Bauhaus.” 20 October 2003 “From the Bauhaus to the 21st Century.” 22 October 2003 Flores, G. “Bauhaus.” 23 October 2003 “The Bauhaus Graphic Communications New Function.” 23 October 2003 Nicholson Bell, Barbara “The Bauhaus School, Weimar, 1919.” 23 October 2003 “Bauhaus-Archiv.” 23 October 2003

interview resources Arthur, Sarah. Personal Interview. 22 October 2003.

image resources 4 above: Bauhaus Archiv Magdalena Droste 4 below: Bauhaus Archiv Magdalena Droste 5 above: Bauhaus Archiv Magdalena Droste 5 middle: Bauhaus Archiv Magdalena Droste 5 below: Bauhaus Archiv Magdalena Droste 6 above: Bauhaus Jeannine Fiedler & Peter Feierabend 6 below: Bauhaus Jeannine Fiedler & Peter Feierabend 7 above: DeStijl Visions of Utopia 7 below: DeStijl Visions of Utopia 8 above: Bauhaus Archiv Magdalena Droste 8 below: Bauhaus Archiv Magdalena Droste 9 above left: Bauhaus Archiv Magdalena Droste 9 above right: Bauhaus Archiv Magdalena Droste 9 below left: Guggenheim Collection 9 below middle: Guggenheim Collection 9 below right: Guggenheim Collection 10 above: Bauhaus Archiv Magdalena Droste 10 below: Bauhaus Archiv Magdalena Droste 11 above left: Bauhaus Archiv Magdalena Droste 11 above middle: Bauhaus Archiv Magdalena Droste 11 above right: Bauhaus Archiv Magdalena Droste 11 below left: Bauhaus Archiv Magdalena Droste 11 below middle: Bauhaus Archiv Magdalena Droste 11 below right: Bauhaus Archiv Magdalena Droste 12: Bauhaus Archiv Magdalena Droste 13 left: Guggenheim Collection 13 middle: Guggenheim Collection 13 right: Guggenheim Collection

sandra bradley kimberlee osmun greg ciro tornincasa wang phan

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