The Bauhaus was an avant-garde art and design school operating in Germany between 1919 and 1933. Its unique approach fused fine art with craft principles to create functional, modernist design. While the Bauhaus school itself was short-lived, it revolutionized architectural and aesthetic perspectives. In this article, we will explore the characteristics of the Bauhaus School.
Bauhaus Art: Form Follows Function
What is Bauhaus art? Bauhaus art aimed to unify fine art and craft into designs for architecture, furniture, and commercial products. Its aesthetic favored geometric lines and shapes, abstraction, and functionality over decoration. At its core, the Bauhaus pursued utilitarian beauty through modern construction techniques and materials like steel, glass, and concrete. Bauhaus artists and designers embraced industry and technology to update domestic goods and living spaces for 20th-century needs.
They pursued simple, useful, and elegant designs suitable for mass production, moving away from luxury one-off pieces. While Bauhaus art encompassed varied media like painting, weaving, sculpture, and more, it was underpinned by the school’s philosophy that art and design should enrich society as a whole.
El Lissitzky. Proun. 1st Kestner Portfolio
Bauhaus Art Movement
The Bauhaus school began operating in Weimar, Germany in 1919 led by architect Walter Gropius. It aimed to forge a new modernist language in art and design based on usefulness, affordability, and simplicity. The faculty brought together masters like painters Klee, Kandinsky, and Schlemmer with younger avant-garde artists and designers. Gropius’ curriculum synthesized influences ranging from the English Arts and Crafts movement to Constructivism, De Stijl, and Dadaism.
It focused on rational design principles but encouraged creative exploration across different workshops. External pressures led the Bauhaus to relocate to Dessau in 1925 and then to Berlin in 1932 before the Nazis forced its closure in 1933. But in its brief tenure, the school succeeded in overturning past orthodoxies and crafting a revolutionary functional aesthetic. The spread of Bauhaus masters and students throughout the world ensured its widespread influence.
Bauhaus Art Style
Bauhaus style is defined by:
Abstract, geometric designs relying on circles, squares, triangles;
Clean lines and shapes without decoration;
Monochromatic palettes and primary colors;
A mix of handcrafted and industrial finishes;
Restrained aesthetic unified by function;
Textures and materials like glass, steel, and smooth wood.
While Bauhaus artists experimented across media, they shared a futuristic vision. Their art and objects aimed to strip away ornament for functionality and sleekness. This machine-age aesthetic extended even to typography, with Bauhaus designers popularizing sans-serif fonts like Futura. While not all Bauhaus works succeed in beauty, they display a unified modernist voice.
Paul Klee. Tale à la Hoffmann (1921)
Bauhaus Wall Art
Several recognizable Bauhaus artworks were intended as architectural accents. For example, Josef Albers created his “Homage to the Square” series of vivid nested squares as murals. His former Bauhaus student Herbert Bayer designed abstract wall sculptures incorporating movement. Mural painter Hinnerk Scheper’s “Dance of the Diagonals” exemplifies Bauhaus's dynamism and geometry in wall art.
Joost Schmidt’s modular innovative lettering and symbols remain influential. The school also pioneered creative exhibit installation designs integrating their industrial fixtures and furnishings to create period rooms. These works and reconstructions convey the Bauhaus cohesive aesthetic vision extending throughout living spaces.
Famous Bauhaus Art
Among seminal Bauhaus artworks are:
Paul Klee's painting “Castle and Sun” with its childlike imagery and geometric shapes.
While varied in form, these all encapsulate the Bauhaus movement’s experimentation and distinctive modernist vision. They signaled a radical departure from past artistic styles toward functionalism.
Wassily Kandinsky. Squares with Concentric Circles, 1913
Bauhaus Art Design
Bauhaus art helped revolutionize interior design, furniture, typography, architecture, and object-making for the machine age. Textile artists like Gunta Stölzl pioneered new weaving techniques aligned with Bauhaus principles. Product designs like Wilhelm Wagenfeld’s functional tableware applied modernist sensibilities to daily utilitarian objects.
Public housing projects by architects like Walter Gropius and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe brought in light, space, and functionality using glass, steel, and geometric alignment. Their sparse, innovative interiors embodied the Bauhaus design ethos. This reshaping of objects and spaces for modern living transformed design, resonating long after the Bauhaus school closed. The movement’s emphasis on affordability and integration of art into everyday life continues to impact visual culture today.
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