Classic Bauhaus Ausstellung, Weimar, Juli-Sept 1923

Bauhaus Exhibition, Weimar, July-September 1923 by Herbert Bayer, 1923

Herbert Bayer was born in Austria in 1900. He became a student at the Bauhaus in 1921 and from 1925 he was a master in the advertising and printing workshops. He resigned in solidarity with Walter Gropius in 1928 and went on to work in advertising until leaving Berlin for America in 1938. He died in 1985.

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The Bauhaus was a revolutionary school of art and design that operated in Germany from 1919 until 1933, when it was forcibly closed under pressure from the Nazi regime.

Known for its radical approach, the Bauhaus sought to bridge the gap between art, craft, and technology, creating a distinctive style that emphasised functionality and minimal ornamentation, applying its principles to architecture, graphic design, interior design, furniture, and typography.

Often compared to the British Arts and Crafts Movement and the work of William Morris, the Bauhaus shared a commitment to craftsmanship and design (wallpaper became one of the school's most profitable products). However, unlike the Arts and Crafts Movement, the Bauhaus embraced industrial scale production and modern materials.

The Bauhaus style, with its focus on simplicity and utility, was considered subversive and "un-German" by the Nazis, who characterised its modernist aesthetic as a threat to traditional values.

After the school's closure, many of its artists and staff fled Germany, leading to a diaspora that spread Bauhaus ideas across the globe. This exodus had a profound and lasting impact on art, architecture, and design worldwide, influencing movements such as modernism and the International Style.