Research Guides and Bibliographies: Architecture & Design Collections Research Guide: Bauhaus Resources

Bauhaus Resources

Arbeitsrat für Kunst printed ephemera, 1918-1919. (Accession # 840131)

Summary: The collection is comprised of manifestos, program statements and exhibition announcements, some with woodblock illustrations, which put forth the goals and guiding principles of the Arbeitsrat für Kunst. Among the authors of the statements are Walter Gropius, Bruno Taut, Adolf Behne, Paul Rudolf Henning, Alexander Koch and Wilhelm Michel. Included are a typescript letter to the editors of Frankfurter Zeitung, dated 1919 January 12, signed by Adolf Behne, asking for a review of the organization's first book publication; a photograph of one of the woodcut illustrations, and two photocopies.Also included are four items concerning the organization Hessischer Arbeitsrat für Kunst: two pamphlets, one with program and one with statues and regulations, membership application, and printed matter addressed to the art historian Walter Müller-Wulckow.

Assorted papers relating to Bauhaus designers, 1919-1984. (Accession # 920020)

Summary: Collection consists of assembled material from the Bauhaus years of 1919-1933, as well as material influenced by Bauhaus designers up to 1984. Included are photographic prints, typescripts, offprints and publications, original graphics, clippings, sketches and drawings, weavings, curricula and correspondence. Several of the typescripts refer to the history of the Bauhaus and to the Bauhaus-Archiv Museum für Gestaltung in Darmstadt and Berlin. Housed with the collection is an issue of the periodical Rayon & design which includes a photograph of a weaving design by Margaret Leischner.Represented artists, architects and historians include Anni Albers, Josef Albers, Rosa Berger, Ella Bergmann-Michel, Heinz Borchers, Walter Dexel, Hans Eckstein, Martin Elsaesser, Sigfried Gidion, Hugo Häring, Gustav Hassenpflug, Karl Hermann Haupt, Franz Kalivoda, Helmut Krüger, M. Kurshuk, Margaret Leischner, Heinz Loew, Hannes Meyer, Léna Meyer-Bergner, Robert Michel, Lucia Moholy, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Erich Mrozek, Palermo (Peter Schwarze-Heisterkamp) with correspondence and original drawings, Grete Reichardt, Otto Rittweger, Carl Schlemmer, Oskar Schlemmer, Arthur Schmidt, Joost Schmidt, Aryeh Sharon, Gunta Stölzl, Mart Stam and Walter Tralau.

Bauhaus correspondence, 1923-1933. (Accession # 870570)

Summary: Primarily correspondence of Walter Gropius, Hannes Meyer and Meyer's friends and colleagues, 1924-1930, regarding the administration of the Bauhaus, the recruitment of teachers, teaching philosophy and the struggle about the location of the school (Weimar-Dessau) as well as Meyer's dismissal as the director of the Bauhaus Dessau. Also included are: a photo sequence showing the expelled foreign students at the Dessau railway station, 1930; two circular letters and excerpts from minutes, 1930, concerning a controversy on a personnel issue in the textile workshop; a manuscript essay by Xanti Schawinsky and correspondence of Bauhaus faculty and students concerning the closing of the institution, 1933.Series I. Correspondence between Walter Gropius and Hannes Meyer, 1926-1927, concerns the offer and acceptance of the position of "Meister für Architektur am Bauhaus" by Hannes Meyer and documents Meyer's conception of the structure and intent of his classes and his critical stance toward what he describes as certain mystical and sectarian tendencies of the institution. Correspondence between Hannes Meyer and Mart Stam, 1928-1928, concerns Stam's architectural classes at the Bauhaus and his negative evaluation of the rotating organization of the school. Correspondence between Meyer and various correspondents, 1930, relates to Meyer's sudden dismissal from the Bauhaus and his subsequent relocation to Moscow. Most notable among the correspondents are: Josef Ganter, Gabriel Guevrekian, Karlfried Dürckheim, J.J.P. Oud, Hermann Finsterlin and Josef Frank. With a copy of an essay by Xanti Schawinsky entitled "Kopf oder Adler? Zum Fall Bauhaus," which tries to counter Hannes Meyer's version of his dismissal and defends the actions of the Bauhausmeister. With an invitation, 1923 Oct. 20, to participate in a meeting of the Bauhausrat which is signed by all masters.Series II. Copies of three letters from Walter Gropius, 1924-1927, to Ludwig Justi, the director of the National Gallery, Berlin, discuss the politically motivated struggle about the closure of the Bauhaus Weimar and try to enlist Justi's support for the cause of the Bauhaus. Justi is also asked, 1924 Sept. 29, to become a member of the curatorium of the "Kreis der Bauhausfreunde". In another letter, 1927 Sep. 9 (which is labeled "confidential"), Gropius asks Justi to be a character witness for Wassily Kandinsky whose application for German citizenship was rejected on account of an anonymous denunciation of his political attitude and alleged ties to the Soviet Union. With a certificate of attendance for the student Hermann Haupt, Bauhaus Weimar 1924 May 3.Series III. Photo sequence (contact prints) of expelled foreign students at Dessau railway station taken by the "Gruppe Meyer" en route to the Soviet Union.Series IV. Two circular letters, addressed to former Bauhaus students and signed by Margret Leischner, Grete Preiswerk and Anni Albers, 1930 Oct. and Nov., accompanied by excerpts from the minutes of a faculty meeting (labeled "strictly confidential") concern a dispute between Grete Reichhardt and Ilse Voigt, and Herbert Arend and Gunta Stölzl-Sharon. One of the letters, 1930 Nov. 10, also reflects a negative evaluation of the changes in teaching method and atmosphere under the new director, Mies van der Rohe.Series V. Correspondence relating to the closing of the Bauhaus in 1933 includes a letter from Bauhaus architecture faculty member Alcar Rudelt to Hans Georg Knoblauch, a student, concerning a police raid on the Bauhaus and his views on the organization, and five letters of Bauhaus student Fritz Schreiber to Knoblauch and his wife discussing the closing of the institution and the attitudes of teachers and students in the succeeding months.

Bauhaus student work, 1919-1933. (Accession # 850514)

Summary: This comprehensive assembled collection represents the variety of assignments given to students at the Bauhaus in Weimar (1919-1925), Dessau (1925-1932), and Berlin (1932-1933). Arranged primarily by course and medium, it includes designs by students, photographs of student work and records of student activities, particularly photographic documentation. A few works by professors, as well as notebooks kept by students are also included. Several of the items are unsigned and at this date, unattributed.The Preliminary course (Grundkurs) is documented by 131 items: drawings, photographs of work, collage and 6 student notebooks by students working under Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Josef Albers and Johannes Itten. Students whose work is represented include Gerd Balzer, Schlomo Ben-David, Otti Berger, Max Bill, Heinrich Bormann, Hinrich Bredendieck, Alma Buscher, Karl Cieluszek, Erich Comeriner, Freidly Kesinger, Hugo Körte, Lothar Lang, Heinz Loew, Gerda Marx, Takehito Mizutani, Erich Mrozek, Gertrud Preiswerk, Hilde Reindl, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Philip Tolziner, Gertrud Ursula Weiss (Schneider). The notebooks were compiled by Hilde Reindl, Erich Comeriner and Vincent Weber. The Woodworking course is represented by 2 photographs of carved decoration by Joost Schmidt. Cabinetmaking documentation includes 22 items (photographs and drawings), most by students in Walter Gropius' course. Twenty-one drawings and photographs represent metal work, primarily prepared for Moholy-Nagy's course.Twenty-two photographs from Ceramics courses show Otto Lindig and his ceramic work, as well as other images of Bauhaus and Dornberger ceramics. The Weaving series includes fabric samples, watercolor studies, loom patterns and photographs of finished works prepared for the weaving workshop and for Paul Klee's course on color theory and design for weavers. Work is by Margarete Willers, Grete Reichardt, and Léna Meyer-Bergner, among others. Printing and typography is represented by 30 calligraphic samples and prints prepared for courses by Joost Schmidt, Oskar Schlemmer and possibly Josef Albers. Thirty-five photographs show Bauhaus theater productions, actors and costumes, and include several images of Oskar Schlemmer as a clown.Nineteen drawings prepared for Klee, Kandinsky and Schlemmer include figure drawings and geometrical studies. Also included are 3 watercolors by unidentified students, probably for the Painting course. Photography coursework includes photographs, photocollages, glass negatives and advertisements made by students for Walter Peterhans and possibly other professors. The Architecture course is represented by 85 items prepared by students working under Mies van der Rohe, Hannes Meyer and other professors. Students include Gerd Balzer, Karl Cieluszek, Rudolf Franz Hartogh, Hans Kessler and Rudolf Ortner.

Bauhaus typography collection, 1919-1937. (Accession # 850513)

Summary: A collection of printing published by the Bauhaus from 1919 to 1933, designed by Bauhaus teachers and students for internal school purposes and for outside commercial use, as well as of other printing relating to the Bauhaus. Most items are designed by Herbert Bayer, László Moholy-Nagy, Oskar Schlemmer, and Joost Schmidt. Other designers represented are Josef Albers, Rudolf Baschant, Erich Comeriner, Lyonel Feininger, Paul Häberer, Josef Hartwig, Dörte Helm, Ludwig Hirschfeld-Mack, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Gerhard Marcks, Wolfgang (Farkas) Molnár, Xanti Schawinsky, Kurt Schmidt, Georg Teltschner, Jan Tschichold, and the designer group Studio Z (Franz Ehrlich, Heinz Loew, Fritz Winter). The types of printed matter include advertisements, announcements, book covers and book jackets, brochures, school, exhibition, and business catalogs, currency, curricula, forms, exhibition announcements, invitations, letterheads, manifestoes, memos, pamphlets, periodicals, lithograph postcards advertising the 1923 Bauhaus exhibition in Weimar, programs, prospectuses, and tickets. Letterheads include incidental correspondence by Walter Gropius, Hannes Meyer, and Mies van der Rohe, including Mies van der Rohe's letters closing the Bauhaus Dessau and the final closing of the school in Berlin. Also present are trade catalogs of furniture designed by Marcel Breuer, and miscellaneous material on the city of Dessau and the New Bauhaus in Chicago. Included are issues of student publications Der Austausch, illustrated with woodcuts, and Bauhaus, Sprachrohr der Studierenden. Also present is a later impression of Oskar Schlemmer's offset lithograph poster from 1913 advertising his gallery Neuer Kunstsalon am Neckartor in Stuttgart.

Meistermappe des Staatlichen Bauhauses 1923 : Reihenfolge der graphischen Blätter. (Accession # 2019.PR.13)

Summary: The Meistermappe contains a title sheet and eight prints by artists teaching at the Bauhaus in 1923. It was produced to raise funds for the school while disseminating the creativity and skills of its faculty. The artists who contributed to the suite are Lyonel Feininger, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Gerhard Marcks, Georg Muche, László Moholy-Nagy, Oskar Schlemmer, and Lothar Schreyer. The cover of the portfolio was designed by Lyonel Feininger and produced by the school's bookbinding workshop. The prints are signed by the artists in pencil; some are dated; all are untitled, except for the color lithograph by Paul Klee, which is titled in stone Der Verliebte. Included are: woodcut Gelmeroda from 1920 by Feininger; color lithograph Fröhlicher Aufstieg from 1923 by Kandinsky, signed; color lithograph Der Verliebte from 1923 by Klee, signed; woodcut Am Öfchen from 1923 by Marcks, monogrammed and dated; etching Auf dem Tisch from 1923 by Muche, not signed; color lithograph Komposition from 1923 by Moholy-Nagy, signed and dated; etching Abstrakte Figur nach links von 1923 by Schlemmer, signed and dated; woodcut Ohne Titel from 1923 by Schreyer, signed and dated.

Newspaper clippings relating to the Bauhaus, ca. 1920-1932. (Accession # 870215)

Summary: Collection of clippings and articles, often political in nature, from regional German newspapers concerning the Bauhaus.

Photographs of Bauhaus faculty and students, ca. 1928-ca. 1934. (Accession # 880248)

Summary: Most of the photographs are beach scenes taken of faculty and students during group vacations in the south of France (1928) and Italy (Ascona, ca. 1929). Some scenes are of student life at the Bauhaus. A few scenes (the only early photographs printed later or copied) are of theatrical productions (stamped "Herbert Bayer"). Others depict Walter Gropius at Lincoln, Massachusetts (1957). The best represented individual is Marcel Breuer (including a student portrait and a portrait taken in Greece in 1934). Gropius is also well represented. Other individuals (mostly part of group scenes) include Ise Gropius, Herbert Bayer, Alexander (Xanti) Schawinsky, Florence Henry, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Max Bayer, Josef Albers, and Josef (Sepp) Maltan.

Photographs of Bauhaus students, teachers, and exhibits, 1919-1933. (Accession # 900079)

Summary: The largest number of photographs are portraits of Bauhaus students and student life. There are also some portraits of teachers, photographs of exhibitions and a small number of images relating to other topics.Series I. Portraits of teachers and staff (15 items): Walter Gropius, Ludwig Hilberseimer; Walther Klemm (2); Wassily Kandinsky (2); Gerhard Marcks, 1923; Hannes Meyer, 1909 and c. 1928 (2); Mies van der Rohe, c. 1930; Laszlo Moholy-Nagy (2, one group photo with students); Georg Muche; Joost Schmidt; and Carl Schlemmer. See also series IV.Series II. Portraits of students (54 items): Franz Aichinger (2); Moses Barhelfer (3); Otti Berger; Liz Beyer-Vogler (by Lux Feininger); Katt Both (3); Alfreddo Cortuluzzi; Richard Dolcker; Werner Gilles; Georg Hartmann; Mali Hermann, 1931; Elisabeth Henneberger; Fritz Kuhr; Sepp Leirer (with Hartmann); Myriam Marie-Louise Manuckiam; Hilde Rantzsch (by Hilde Hubbuch); Hilde (Moji) Reindl; Otto Rittweger (?); Itajo Rose (2); Naftaly Rubinstein (2 by Lux Feininger); Alexander (Xanti) Schawinsky; Yvon Scheerbart; Tut Schlemmer (with Otti Berger); Immeke Schwollmann (by Albert Renger-Patzsch, 1925); Arieh Sharon; Margarete Willers, Fritz Winter; and unknown students (22). See also series IV.Series III. Exhibits, architectural interiors, etc. (16 items): Kiosk with two Bauhaus posters, 1929 (2); 1928 exhibit involving work by students of Joost Schmidt (by Franz Ehrlich, 3 items); Otto Rittweger exhibit panel (by Fritz Lafeldt); two other exhibition photos (one by Arthur Koster); two views of a ceiling, printed with orthogonal stripes of colors; one view of a group listening to a lecture in an exhibit hall; and five views of various workshops including one of the preliminary course 1927/1928 and the weaving workshop (by Lotte Beese). See also series IV.Series IV. Student life (81 items): students involved in sports (including Hannes Meyer playing and also holding a water polo ball with a group of students around him); students working and eating; costume parties including the "Metallisches Fest"; other festivities; a Bauhaus musical ensemble; a demonstration with a student carrying a sign (stamped on the reverse "Hannes Meyer", 1930); etc. Among those identified in group portraits are: Lisa Berger, Katt Both, Marianne Brandt (3), Christian Dell (teacher, 2), Lyonel Feininger, Hubert Hoffmann, Gertrud Preiswerk, Hans Przyrembel (2) Oscar Schlemmer (teacher, with Lis Berger), Arieh Sharon, Wilhelm Wagenfeld, Margarete Willers, Fritz Winter and others. Some photos were taken at Dessau from 1927-1930. One photo by Lux Feininger (1920) has a sketch on the reverse.Series V. Miscellaneous (16 items): A painting of Friedrich Vordemberge-Gildewart in the collection of Fritz Beindorff, Hannover (by Ernst-Ernst, Hannover); a painting, signed Ismael, 1934; and five unidentified subjects (some possibly student projects, one of a large fountain or swimming pool, etc.); unidentified individuals (9). See also Irene Bayer photographs (880248).

Judith Pearlman interviews with Bauhaus masters and students, 1980-1985. (Accession # 920069)

Summary: 50 enhanced audio cassette tapes, primarily interviews by Judith Pearlman, accompanied by some transcriptions, translations, notes and printed matter. Also included are 2 videotapes of Bauhaus films (box 12), the original 29 enhanced cassette tapes and 90 reel-to-reel master copies.Twenty enchanced audiocassette tapes (correspond to Master reels 1-70) record interviews with masters and students of the Bauhaus in Germany. All are transcribed, most are in English, those in German have been transcribed in English. Interviewees include Anni Albers, Gertrude Arndt, Herbert Bayer, Max Bill, Roman Clemens, T. Lux Feininger, Max Gebhardt, Ise Gropius, Larry Haas, Felix and Livia Klee, Georg Muche, Winfried Nerdinger, Tut and Jaina Schlemmer, Gunta Stölzl, and Eva and Andor Weininger.Ten enhanced audiocassette tapes (correspond to Master reels 71-90) record ca. 10 hours from the Bauhaus Fifty Years conference (1969) at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). These tapes may be listened to by researchers but may not be reproduced for copyright reasons.Twenty files hold transcriptions, notes and research material about Anni Albers, Walter Allner, Gertrude Arndt, Max Bill, Roman Clemens, Howard Dearstyne, T. Lux Feininger, Ise Gropius, Werner Graeff, Peter Keler, Felix Klee, Jean Leppien, Hannes Meyer, Georg Muche, Winfried Nerdinger, Walter Puff, Konrad Püschel, Tut and Jaina Schlemmer, Gunta Stölzl, and Andor and Eva Weininger.

Postcards about the Bauhaus, 1922-1926. (Accession # 900193)

Summary: This collection of postcards consists of seventeen photographic images depicting: The new Bauhaus school building in Dessau, designed by Walter Gropius; twelve photo postcards depicting the houses for the Bauhaus masters (exteriors and interiors) designed by Walter Gropius; and twelve postcards of paintings and other art objects designed by Josef Albers, Herbert Bayer, Marianne Brandt, Lyonel Feininger, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Georg Muche, Oskar Schlemmer and Gunta Stölzl. The majority of the photos were taken by Lucia Moholy-Nagy (19) and Erich Consemüller (3).

Photographs of light fixtures, utensils, glassware, pottery, etc., manufactured by the workshop at Giebichenstein, ca. 1925. (Accession # 910020)

Summary: Workshop closely associated with the Bauhaus. Fifty-five photographic prints, some numbered and annotated on the verso.