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World of Art
Баухаус
Впервые опубликованная в 1984 году, книга Фрэнка Уитфорда (род. 1941) остается одним из лучших обзоров истории и достижений Баухауса — школы архитектуры и дизайна, созданной в Веймарской республике в 1919 году, четырнадцать лет спустя закрытой нацистами, но успевшей за неполных полтора десятилетия своего существования заложить основы преподавания художественно-промышленных дисциплин на весь последующий век.
240 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1984
42 people are currently reading
665 people want to read
About the author
Frank Whitford
41 books4 followersBorn Francis Peter Whitford in Bishopstoke, Hampshire, on 11 August 1941, the son of Peter Whitford and his wife Katherine Ellen (nee Rowe). He was educated at Peter Symonds School in Winchester and attended Wadham College, Oxford, graduating in 1963 with a third-class honours in English language and literature because he preferred drawing to studying. A self-taught artist, he designed posters and worked as an actor in student films and illustrator for student magazines.
He subsequently studied German art at the Courtauld Institute, earning an academic diploma in the history of art in 1965. He worked as a cartoonist and illustrator on the Sunday Mirror in 1965-66 before switching to drawing pocket cartoons for the Evening Standard in 1966-67. Richard J. Evans, in his obituary for The Guardian (23 January 2014), quotes Whitford as saying: "Almost daily for four years or so, I churned out a pocket cartoon, trying to be funny and politically astute at the same time. I was rarely if ever successful, which explains why my career was so short, only briefly extended by changing papers and editors in midstream."
Whitford did not consider himself a particularly good cartoonist, avoiding drawing feet, which he found particularly tricky, whenever possible. His cartoons covered many areas of British political life at a time when Harold Wilson was Prime Minister and some of the major events affecting the UK were centred on apartheid South Africa and the independence of Southern Rhodesia, but he felt that foreign artists like Vicky (Victor Weisz) were able to better recognise the absurdities of British politics.
With the aid of a Ford Foundation scholarship, Whitford attended the Free University of Berlin, graduating with a degree in art history in 1969. The next year he began lecturing on the history of art at University College London before becoming a senior lecturer at Homerton College, Cambridge, in 1974. When the art history department was closed in 1986, Whitford began freelancing and tutored history of art at the Royal College of Art; he was awarded a higher doctorate at the RCA in 1989.
He had continued to contribute cartoons – as Rausch – to the Sunday Mirror in the 1970s, but it was as a an art critic with the Sunday Times and Cambridge Evening News that he returned to newspapers in 1991. Ge was already established as a writer, having worked as a contributing editor to Studio International between 1964 and 1973, and as the author of books on Kandinsky (London, Hamlyn, 1967 [1968]), Expressionism (London, Hamlyn, 1970), Japanese Prints and Western Painters (London, Studio Vista, 1977), Egon Schiele (London, Thames & Hudson, 1981), Bauhaus (London, Thames & Hudson, 1984), George Grosz: The Day of Reckoning (London, Allison & Busby, 1984), Love Above All (London, Allison & Busby, 1985), Oskar Kokoschka: A life (London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1986), Expressionist Portraits (London, Thames & Hudson, 1987), Trog: Forty graphic years: The art of Wally Fawkes (London, Fourth Estate, 1987), Understanding Abstract Art (London, Barrie & Jenkins, 1987), Gustav Klimt (London, Thames & Hudson, 1990), Bauhaus: Masters and Students by Themselves (London, Conran Octopus, 1992), The Berlin of George Grosz: Drawings, watercolours and prints, 1912-1930 (New Haven & London, Yale University Press, 1997), Kandinsky: Watercolours and other works on paper (London, Thames & Hudson, 1999), as well as numerous introductions for exhibitions.
Whitford also appeared as the broadcaster, appearing as a team captain on the Channel 4 gameshow Gallery in the 1980s, presenting two series about cartoonists on Radio 4 in the early 1990s and writing and presenting the video documentary Bauhaus: The Face of the 20th Century (1994).
He was awarded the federal cross of the Order of Merit in Germany in 2002.
Whitford is survived by his wife, Cecilia (Cici) Dresser, a specialist in Japanese art who worked in the Cambridge University Library, whom he m
He subsequently studied German art at the Courtauld Institute, earning an academic diploma in the history of art in 1965. He worked as a cartoonist and illustrator on the Sunday Mirror in 1965-66 before switching to drawing pocket cartoons for the Evening Standard in 1966-67. Richard J. Evans, in his obituary for The Guardian (23 January 2014), quotes Whitford as saying: "Almost daily for four years or so, I churned out a pocket cartoon, trying to be funny and politically astute at the same time. I was rarely if ever successful, which explains why my career was so short, only briefly extended by changing papers and editors in midstream."
Whitford did not consider himself a particularly good cartoonist, avoiding drawing feet, which he found particularly tricky, whenever possible. His cartoons covered many areas of British political life at a time when Harold Wilson was Prime Minister and some of the major events affecting the UK were centred on apartheid South Africa and the independence of Southern Rhodesia, but he felt that foreign artists like Vicky (Victor Weisz) were able to better recognise the absurdities of British politics.
With the aid of a Ford Foundation scholarship, Whitford attended the Free University of Berlin, graduating with a degree in art history in 1969. The next year he began lecturing on the history of art at University College London before becoming a senior lecturer at Homerton College, Cambridge, in 1974. When the art history department was closed in 1986, Whitford began freelancing and tutored history of art at the Royal College of Art; he was awarded a higher doctorate at the RCA in 1989.
He had continued to contribute cartoons – as Rausch – to the Sunday Mirror in the 1970s, but it was as a an art critic with the Sunday Times and Cambridge Evening News that he returned to newspapers in 1991. Ge was already established as a writer, having worked as a contributing editor to Studio International between 1964 and 1973, and as the author of books on Kandinsky (London, Hamlyn, 1967 [1968]), Expressionism (London, Hamlyn, 1970), Japanese Prints and Western Painters (London, Studio Vista, 1977), Egon Schiele (London, Thames & Hudson, 1981), Bauhaus (London, Thames & Hudson, 1984), George Grosz: The Day of Reckoning (London, Allison & Busby, 1984), Love Above All (London, Allison & Busby, 1985), Oskar Kokoschka: A life (London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1986), Expressionist Portraits (London, Thames & Hudson, 1987), Trog: Forty graphic years: The art of Wally Fawkes (London, Fourth Estate, 1987), Understanding Abstract Art (London, Barrie & Jenkins, 1987), Gustav Klimt (London, Thames & Hudson, 1990), Bauhaus: Masters and Students by Themselves (London, Conran Octopus, 1992), The Berlin of George Grosz: Drawings, watercolours and prints, 1912-1930 (New Haven & London, Yale University Press, 1997), Kandinsky: Watercolours and other works on paper (London, Thames & Hudson, 1999), as well as numerous introductions for exhibitions.
Whitford also appeared as the broadcaster, appearing as a team captain on the Channel 4 gameshow Gallery in the 1980s, presenting two series about cartoonists on Radio 4 in the early 1990s and writing and presenting the video documentary Bauhaus: The Face of the 20th Century (1994).
He was awarded the federal cross of the Order of Merit in Germany in 2002.
Whitford is survived by his wife, Cecilia (Cici) Dresser, a specialist in Japanese art who worked in the Cambridge University Library, whom he m
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
March 27, 2011
easy to read, comprehensive, great illustrations. now i desperately wish for a time machine so i can be a student during the weimar period.
July 5, 2025
Bauhaus from arts and crafts to industrial design. People, teaching, politics, output.
January 4, 2012
Whitford's book is a fine and effective history of the Bauhaus. Of particular note is his attention to the Bauhaus as an intervention in the teaching of art and craft. This is a strong introduction to the 'movement,' understanding the challenges to their formation and survival, and the rationale for the attacks from the Nazi regime. Well illustrated, there is a balance in this monograph between arts and craft, design and architecture.
May 12, 2023
The book is written in an accessible language. All clear. I empathized with the Bauhaus as the heroes of a science fiction book. I would have liked to see more design objects, Itten's book on color, but even without what I didn't see, the book touches on a lot of topics, workshops, etc
June 15, 2025
they really learned how to build a house!
October 30, 2024
Who doesn't love Bauhaus? An enjoyable history of it, not very deep in terms of its impact or a critique of it. Pictures are great of course.
February 16, 2019
I picked up this book, interested to learn more about the Bauhaus after being exposed to the paintings of Moholy-Nagy from a 2015 exhibition at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and after being exposed to the architecture of Herbert Bayer while staying at the Aspen Institute. The book gives a concise but incisive overview of the history of the Bauhaus (an art school in Germany active between the world wars), the major people, and the goals of the project. The author, an expert in the subject matter, brings a rare combination of seriousness and accessibility.
The output of the Bauhaus is often described in monolithic terms. As the author puts it: "Its name became associated with a style: anything and everything geometric, seemingly functional, employing the primary colors and made in modern materials was 'Bauhaus style'." But, as this book clearly shows, there was constant, simmering conflict over what the goals of the institute should be. Should it champion a return to traditional craftsmanship? Or apply craft principles to mass production? Are the fine arts first among equals? Or is architecture? Or is all art and craft of equal value? Some of the most important modern artists of the early 20th century (Klee, Kandinsky, Moholy-Nagy, Feininger, etc.) were brought together under the general notion of uniting art and craft, but little else.
The book is strongest in treating the early history of the Bauhaus and the major figures who shaped this initial dialog. The discussion of the later history—the time under the direction of Meyer and had der Rohe—is more rushed. I would have particularly liked to know more about why Gropius, with so much on the line, made the hasty choice of Meyer as his successor. I don't quite buy Whitford's gloss that "Only haste caused by Gropius' anxiety to return to his architectural practice and his relief at freeing himself from the burden of administration can explain his choice of successor." While the author argues that it is beyond the scope of the book, I would also have liked to have seen a more detailed discussion of the concrete legacy of the Bauhaus in later modern art and design.
The output of the Bauhaus is often described in monolithic terms. As the author puts it: "Its name became associated with a style: anything and everything geometric, seemingly functional, employing the primary colors and made in modern materials was 'Bauhaus style'." But, as this book clearly shows, there was constant, simmering conflict over what the goals of the institute should be. Should it champion a return to traditional craftsmanship? Or apply craft principles to mass production? Are the fine arts first among equals? Or is architecture? Or is all art and craft of equal value? Some of the most important modern artists of the early 20th century (Klee, Kandinsky, Moholy-Nagy, Feininger, etc.) were brought together under the general notion of uniting art and craft, but little else.
The book is strongest in treating the early history of the Bauhaus and the major figures who shaped this initial dialog. The discussion of the later history—the time under the direction of Meyer and had der Rohe—is more rushed. I would have particularly liked to know more about why Gropius, with so much on the line, made the hasty choice of Meyer as his successor. I don't quite buy Whitford's gloss that "Only haste caused by Gropius' anxiety to return to his architectural practice and his relief at freeing himself from the burden of administration can explain his choice of successor." While the author argues that it is beyond the scope of the book, I would also have liked to have seen a more detailed discussion of the concrete legacy of the Bauhaus in later modern art and design.
November 30, 2025
Este libro fue como meterme dentro de la Bauhaus y todos sus momentos buenos y malos y sentir que era parte de ellos.
Para los amantes de la Bauhaus esta obra es como estar en la institución observando todo lo que sucedía como un espectador omnisciente y viendo cómo, en busca de cuestionar los valores de la época y una nueva forma de pensar el arte y la artesanía en un momento tan turbulento de la historia, los propios productores de esas ideas que revolucionaron el mundo dudaban incluso de sí mismos y, así como cuestionaban todo, cuestionaban también sus propias perspectivas.
Este libro me gustó mucho más de lo que esperaba porque considero que está muy bien escrito. Fue muy entretenido, pero no por eso menos informativo. Yo ya conocía bastante de la historia de la Bauhaus y su impacto en el mundo del arte y en el desarrollo del diseño pero no sabía tanto en particular del primer período de la escuela en Weimar y del último antes del cierre en Berlín, siendo que justamente estos fueron los más complejos, y este libro los explica con muchos detalles: todas las idas y venidas ideológicas de Gropius desde antes de ir a la guerra, con su idea inicial de la escuela, pasando por su perspectiva más bien socialista, hasta su regreso a un pensamiento más racionalista; la situación con Itten y su religión, que terminó mezclando en sus enseñanzas al punto de convertir la escuela en su templo; incluso los problemas económicos propios de la posguerra. Me llamó mucho la atención justamente el cambio de opinión del fundador y director, Gropius, después de tener que servir en la guerra porque es sumamente coherente que luego de estar en presencia de tanta muerte provocada por las nuevas “máquinas”, armas fabricadas por la industria que él decía que era necesaria, cambie su pensamiento y se incline hacia una perspectiva más socialista y de retorno a la artesanía, en contraste con sus inicios.
También me encantó la cantidad de fotografías e imágenes de los lugares, los trabajos, los alumnos y los profesores que yo nunca vi en ningún otro lado y que me resultaron super interesantes y, además, muy bien posicionadas y relacionadas con el texto. Más que nada me gustó una imagen de la puerta del vestíbulo de entrada de la casa Sommerfeld diseñado por Joost Schmidt (*), que tenía una estética expresionista, propia de los primeros años de la Bauhaus, pero que aun así ya contenía una fuerte presencia de las formas geométricas que luego serían icónicas de la escuela. También me gustó mucho ver imágenes de los espacios de los distintos talleres, de las obras de teatro que hacían y de los trabajos de los alumnos del curso preliminar a lo largo de los años más que nada por su similitud, guardando las distancias, con lo que yo hice en el CBC de la carrera de diseño gráfico en la UBA: el análisis de la estructura de una imagen, la experimentación con los materiales, la importancia de las formas primarias y las teorías de Kandinsky sobre el punto y la línea como el punto en movimiento.
Hubo varias cosas que me sorprendieron al leer este libro porque no las sabia: la cantidad de mujeres que fueron alumnas considerando la época en la que vivían; el hecho de que los nazis, aún después de cerrar la escuela y llevar presos a sus alumnos y profesores, les ofrecieran permitirles volver a abrirla con la condición de que expulsaran de la institución a las personas que tuvieran algún tipo de inclinación socialdemócrata o idea que ellos consideraran peligrosa; también el hecho de que esta escuela solo fue reconocida internacionalmente justamente por lo que los nazis les hicieron, porque eso obligó a muchos de los involucrados a migrar y así repartieron sus ideas en otro países que luego las continuaron; y la forma en la que los nazis se apoderaron de la escuela de un dia para el otro arrestando a todo el mundo y destruyendo todo lo que había dentro del edificio, intentando borrarla.
No le puse cinco estrellas solo porque considero que hay una presencia muy marcada de apreciaciones personales del autor en algunos momentos. Aunque con muchas de sus apreciaciones coincido, creo que un libro de este estilo debería ser un poco más objetivo. Aun así hay mucha presencia de testimonios de alumnos y profesores que enriquecen mucho la información y la perspectiva del libro.
Destacadas
Pág. 55
“Dos de los ejercicios de Itten eran de especial importancia. El primero pedía a los estudiantes que jugaran con diversas texturas, formas, colores y tonos, en dos y tres dimensiones. El segundo consistía en el análisis de obras de arte por medio de líneas rítmicas que buscaran la captación del espíritu, del contenido expresivo del original.”
(Dos de los ejercicios de Itten en el curso preliminar similares a lo que aprendemos en los primeros años de la FADU cuando estudiamos diseño, manteniendo las distancias obvio)
Pág. 65
“Es desoladora la ausencia de información sobre los maestros de taller, tanto en su aspecto humano como en el docente. Circunstancias que, por otra parte, son reveladoras. A pesar del propósito de Gropius de elevar la categoría de los oficios, las estrellas de la escuela eran los artistas”
(Es lamentablemente irónico pero este es un libro de 1984, así que me gustaría investigar a ver si ahora si hay más información: Christian Dell y Alfred Kopka, taller de metales; Reinhold Weidensee y Josef Zachmann, taller de ebanistería; Schlemmmer y Heinrich Beberniss, taller de pintura mural)
(*) Pág. 79
“Puerta y entorno del vestíbulo de acceso de la casa Sommerfeld, por Joost Schmidt,1921. La casa y su contenido fueron destruidos.”
Pág. 96
“L. Lang, dibujo analítico del curso de Kandinsky, 1926-1927. Esta es solo la primera fase de una serie de dibujos en la que se pide al alumno la reducción del bodegón del modelo a una configuración geométrica abstracta. La estructura que subyace en el modelo está apuntada en el esbozo arriba a la izquierda”
(Dibujo de la “estructura” el curso de Kandinsky, similar a lo que nos enseñan en los primeros años de diseño. Kandinsky quería que sus alumnos aprendieran a mirar, no a pintar)
Pág. 118
“Congreso constructivista y dadaísta, Weimar, 1922. Nelly y Theo van Doesburg, Moholy-Nagy y su esposa, El Lissitzky.”
(Me llamo la atención tantas personalidades juntas)
Pág. 121
“El Gropius de antes de la guerra, libre su mente de socialismo utópico y medievalismo romántico, se había reencontrado consigo mismo.”
(Sobre la vuelta al racionalismo de Gropius luego del tema de Itten y todo el socialismo que invadió la escuela)
Para los amantes de la Bauhaus esta obra es como estar en la institución observando todo lo que sucedía como un espectador omnisciente y viendo cómo, en busca de cuestionar los valores de la época y una nueva forma de pensar el arte y la artesanía en un momento tan turbulento de la historia, los propios productores de esas ideas que revolucionaron el mundo dudaban incluso de sí mismos y, así como cuestionaban todo, cuestionaban también sus propias perspectivas.
Este libro me gustó mucho más de lo que esperaba porque considero que está muy bien escrito. Fue muy entretenido, pero no por eso menos informativo. Yo ya conocía bastante de la historia de la Bauhaus y su impacto en el mundo del arte y en el desarrollo del diseño pero no sabía tanto en particular del primer período de la escuela en Weimar y del último antes del cierre en Berlín, siendo que justamente estos fueron los más complejos, y este libro los explica con muchos detalles: todas las idas y venidas ideológicas de Gropius desde antes de ir a la guerra, con su idea inicial de la escuela, pasando por su perspectiva más bien socialista, hasta su regreso a un pensamiento más racionalista; la situación con Itten y su religión, que terminó mezclando en sus enseñanzas al punto de convertir la escuela en su templo; incluso los problemas económicos propios de la posguerra. Me llamó mucho la atención justamente el cambio de opinión del fundador y director, Gropius, después de tener que servir en la guerra porque es sumamente coherente que luego de estar en presencia de tanta muerte provocada por las nuevas “máquinas”, armas fabricadas por la industria que él decía que era necesaria, cambie su pensamiento y se incline hacia una perspectiva más socialista y de retorno a la artesanía, en contraste con sus inicios.
También me encantó la cantidad de fotografías e imágenes de los lugares, los trabajos, los alumnos y los profesores que yo nunca vi en ningún otro lado y que me resultaron super interesantes y, además, muy bien posicionadas y relacionadas con el texto. Más que nada me gustó una imagen de la puerta del vestíbulo de entrada de la casa Sommerfeld diseñado por Joost Schmidt (*), que tenía una estética expresionista, propia de los primeros años de la Bauhaus, pero que aun así ya contenía una fuerte presencia de las formas geométricas que luego serían icónicas de la escuela. También me gustó mucho ver imágenes de los espacios de los distintos talleres, de las obras de teatro que hacían y de los trabajos de los alumnos del curso preliminar a lo largo de los años más que nada por su similitud, guardando las distancias, con lo que yo hice en el CBC de la carrera de diseño gráfico en la UBA: el análisis de la estructura de una imagen, la experimentación con los materiales, la importancia de las formas primarias y las teorías de Kandinsky sobre el punto y la línea como el punto en movimiento.
Hubo varias cosas que me sorprendieron al leer este libro porque no las sabia: la cantidad de mujeres que fueron alumnas considerando la época en la que vivían; el hecho de que los nazis, aún después de cerrar la escuela y llevar presos a sus alumnos y profesores, les ofrecieran permitirles volver a abrirla con la condición de que expulsaran de la institución a las personas que tuvieran algún tipo de inclinación socialdemócrata o idea que ellos consideraran peligrosa; también el hecho de que esta escuela solo fue reconocida internacionalmente justamente por lo que los nazis les hicieron, porque eso obligó a muchos de los involucrados a migrar y así repartieron sus ideas en otro países que luego las continuaron; y la forma en la que los nazis se apoderaron de la escuela de un dia para el otro arrestando a todo el mundo y destruyendo todo lo que había dentro del edificio, intentando borrarla.
No le puse cinco estrellas solo porque considero que hay una presencia muy marcada de apreciaciones personales del autor en algunos momentos. Aunque con muchas de sus apreciaciones coincido, creo que un libro de este estilo debería ser un poco más objetivo. Aun así hay mucha presencia de testimonios de alumnos y profesores que enriquecen mucho la información y la perspectiva del libro.
Destacadas
Pág. 55
“Dos de los ejercicios de Itten eran de especial importancia. El primero pedía a los estudiantes que jugaran con diversas texturas, formas, colores y tonos, en dos y tres dimensiones. El segundo consistía en el análisis de obras de arte por medio de líneas rítmicas que buscaran la captación del espíritu, del contenido expresivo del original.”
(Dos de los ejercicios de Itten en el curso preliminar similares a lo que aprendemos en los primeros años de la FADU cuando estudiamos diseño, manteniendo las distancias obvio)
Pág. 65
“Es desoladora la ausencia de información sobre los maestros de taller, tanto en su aspecto humano como en el docente. Circunstancias que, por otra parte, son reveladoras. A pesar del propósito de Gropius de elevar la categoría de los oficios, las estrellas de la escuela eran los artistas”
(Es lamentablemente irónico pero este es un libro de 1984, así que me gustaría investigar a ver si ahora si hay más información: Christian Dell y Alfred Kopka, taller de metales; Reinhold Weidensee y Josef Zachmann, taller de ebanistería; Schlemmmer y Heinrich Beberniss, taller de pintura mural)
(*) Pág. 79
“Puerta y entorno del vestíbulo de acceso de la casa Sommerfeld, por Joost Schmidt,1921. La casa y su contenido fueron destruidos.”
Pág. 96
“L. Lang, dibujo analítico del curso de Kandinsky, 1926-1927. Esta es solo la primera fase de una serie de dibujos en la que se pide al alumno la reducción del bodegón del modelo a una configuración geométrica abstracta. La estructura que subyace en el modelo está apuntada en el esbozo arriba a la izquierda”
(Dibujo de la “estructura” el curso de Kandinsky, similar a lo que nos enseñan en los primeros años de diseño. Kandinsky quería que sus alumnos aprendieran a mirar, no a pintar)
Pág. 118
“Congreso constructivista y dadaísta, Weimar, 1922. Nelly y Theo van Doesburg, Moholy-Nagy y su esposa, El Lissitzky.”
(Me llamo la atención tantas personalidades juntas)
Pág. 121
“El Gropius de antes de la guerra, libre su mente de socialismo utópico y medievalismo romántico, se había reencontrado consigo mismo.”
(Sobre la vuelta al racionalismo de Gropius luego del tema de Itten y todo el socialismo que invadió la escuela)
April 11, 2021
Author only focuses on the discrepancies in manifest and reality, completely disregarding the spirit and the influence that Bauhaus had and on its meaning to date.
Historically book is mainly focused on years in Weinmar, and other periods are overlooked. Interesting take on many aspects, sometimes too realistic and judgemental for my taste.
Historically book is mainly focused on years in Weinmar, and other periods are overlooked. Interesting take on many aspects, sometimes too realistic and judgemental for my taste.
April 14, 2022
Easy to read, good and comprehensive explanation about Bauhaus during its glorious time and how it was finally ruined to pieces.
December 13, 2025
17/30
Frank Whitford’s Bauhaus is one of the clearest, most accessible introductions to the famous German design school, offering a compact yet comprehensive account of its origin, evolution, teaching philosophy, artistic breakthroughs, and cultural legacy. The book situates the Bauhaus not merely as a design institution but as a social experiment—a crucible where art, craft, technology, and politics collided during one of Europe’s most volatile periods. Whitford’s strength lies in his ability to connect the school’s internal debates to the broader cultural upheavals of post–World War I Germany, demonstrating how the Bauhaus simultaneously reflected and resisted its environment.
The book opens with the context of the Weimar Republic, emphasizing the instability that shaped Walter Gropius’s decision to found the Bauhaus in 1919. Gropius envisioned a unified school where artists and craftsmen would collaborate, abolishing the rigid hierarchy between “high art” and “applied art.” Whitford carefully traces how this idealistic vision was influenced by movements such as Arts & Crafts, Expressionism, Deutscher Werkbund functionalism, and the German reformist tradition. The early pages provide granular detail on the social and intellectual currents that made the Bauhaus possible—sometimes to the point of excessive density, but undeniably thorough.
A major emphasis is the pedagogical structure. The Bauhaus’s famous preliminary course (the Vorkurs), taught by figures like Johannes Itten, László Moholy-Nagy, and Josef Albers, was revolutionary: it trained students not in aesthetics but in perception, materials, and form relationships. Whitford highlights how teaching at the Bauhaus was not doctrinal but experimental; each master reshaped the curriculum according to his own artistic philosophy. This internal diversity produced fruitful tension, such as the shift from Itten’s mystical, expressionist approach to Moholy-Nagy’s machine-age rationalism.
Whitford also provides short, vivid portraits of major Bauhaus figures: Gropius as the organizer and prophet of unity; Klee and Kandinsky as spiritual explorers of abstraction; Moholy-Nagy as the technophile who embraced photography, industrial materials, and new media; Mies van der Rohe as the architect who pushed the school toward austere, rational modernism. These profiles emphasize that the Bauhaus was never a monolithic style—rather, it was a series of evolving experiments about how people might live, make, and think in the modern world.
The book moves through the Bauhaus’s geographical and ideological transitions: from Weimar to the industrial setting of Dessau, then finally to the brief and tense period in Berlin. Whitford explains how the school’s politics became increasingly fraught, especially as right-wing nationalists accused the Bauhaus of being Bolshevik, un-German, or degenerate. He shows that the school’s closure in 1933 was less the result of internal failure than of external authoritarian pressure.
A major section covers the Bauhaus look—the streamlined forms, geometric clarity, honest materials, sans-serif typography, modular furniture, and rational architectural volumes that later came to define “modern design.” Whitford stresses, however, that these visual markers were not originally the Bauhaus’s core identity. The school valued experimentation above style, and only in retrospect were certain outcomes canonized as “Bauhaus.” He also explores the role of workshops—metal, weaving, furniture, typography, photography—and their shift from artisanal craft to industrial collaboration.
The later chapters trace the international diaspora after the school’s closure, including Moholy-Nagy’s New Bauhaus in Chicago, Mies’s skyscraper modernism in America, and the absorption of Bauhaus ideas into global design education. Whitford argues that the Bauhaus’s true legacy lies not in any specific object but in its methodological DNA: interdisciplinarity, experimentation, and the belief that design can shape society.
Frank Whitford’s Bauhaus is one of the clearest, most accessible introductions to the famous German design school, offering a compact yet comprehensive account of its origin, evolution, teaching philosophy, artistic breakthroughs, and cultural legacy. The book situates the Bauhaus not merely as a design institution but as a social experiment—a crucible where art, craft, technology, and politics collided during one of Europe’s most volatile periods. Whitford’s strength lies in his ability to connect the school’s internal debates to the broader cultural upheavals of post–World War I Germany, demonstrating how the Bauhaus simultaneously reflected and resisted its environment.
The book opens with the context of the Weimar Republic, emphasizing the instability that shaped Walter Gropius’s decision to found the Bauhaus in 1919. Gropius envisioned a unified school where artists and craftsmen would collaborate, abolishing the rigid hierarchy between “high art” and “applied art.” Whitford carefully traces how this idealistic vision was influenced by movements such as Arts & Crafts, Expressionism, Deutscher Werkbund functionalism, and the German reformist tradition. The early pages provide granular detail on the social and intellectual currents that made the Bauhaus possible—sometimes to the point of excessive density, but undeniably thorough.
A major emphasis is the pedagogical structure. The Bauhaus’s famous preliminary course (the Vorkurs), taught by figures like Johannes Itten, László Moholy-Nagy, and Josef Albers, was revolutionary: it trained students not in aesthetics but in perception, materials, and form relationships. Whitford highlights how teaching at the Bauhaus was not doctrinal but experimental; each master reshaped the curriculum according to his own artistic philosophy. This internal diversity produced fruitful tension, such as the shift from Itten’s mystical, expressionist approach to Moholy-Nagy’s machine-age rationalism.
Whitford also provides short, vivid portraits of major Bauhaus figures: Gropius as the organizer and prophet of unity; Klee and Kandinsky as spiritual explorers of abstraction; Moholy-Nagy as the technophile who embraced photography, industrial materials, and new media; Mies van der Rohe as the architect who pushed the school toward austere, rational modernism. These profiles emphasize that the Bauhaus was never a monolithic style—rather, it was a series of evolving experiments about how people might live, make, and think in the modern world.
The book moves through the Bauhaus’s geographical and ideological transitions: from Weimar to the industrial setting of Dessau, then finally to the brief and tense period in Berlin. Whitford explains how the school’s politics became increasingly fraught, especially as right-wing nationalists accused the Bauhaus of being Bolshevik, un-German, or degenerate. He shows that the school’s closure in 1933 was less the result of internal failure than of external authoritarian pressure.
A major section covers the Bauhaus look—the streamlined forms, geometric clarity, honest materials, sans-serif typography, modular furniture, and rational architectural volumes that later came to define “modern design.” Whitford stresses, however, that these visual markers were not originally the Bauhaus’s core identity. The school valued experimentation above style, and only in retrospect were certain outcomes canonized as “Bauhaus.” He also explores the role of workshops—metal, weaving, furniture, typography, photography—and their shift from artisanal craft to industrial collaboration.
The later chapters trace the international diaspora after the school’s closure, including Moholy-Nagy’s New Bauhaus in Chicago, Mies’s skyscraper modernism in America, and the absorption of Bauhaus ideas into global design education. Whitford argues that the Bauhaus’s true legacy lies not in any specific object but in its methodological DNA: interdisciplinarity, experimentation, and the belief that design can shape society.
January 12, 2026
I read this because I am on a journey to cover german 20th century history since finishing 19th century history.
Economically, socially, and politically. Obviously, I couldn’t skip over the influential Bauhaus school which waged a cultural war against the conservatives, bourgeoisie, political extremists, paramilitary parties, pan-germans, demagogue agitators, and the rest of the anti-republican movements
It’s decently concise, straight to the point and easy to read. Split into different chapters which went in an alright amount of depth without being highly academic to enjoy for somebody who casually wishes to learn about The Bauhaus School of Art. Keep in mind, Bauhaus scholarship is very fragmented, out of print, frequently in german, and scattered across architecture…design… typography…etc. So it’s difficult to find a single definitive book explaining to you the short lived existence (yet very influential) of that school across different categories. The institution itself has been very inconsistent internally, it’s difficult to tell what is *the Bauhaus*; a style? A political project? A pedagogy? Different historians will tell you different things.
I almost forget to add how much suppression they faced from authorities, until they got completely shut down by the Nazis. That led to the archives scattering across the globe due to the members emigrating.
Annndd finally—which is the saddest part, Gropius would have despised this—after ww2 Bauhaus became a myth rather than a historical truth, specifically in the US. Modernism, the art movement it established, produced glossy coffee table books, and dulled corporate branding. That replaced deep analysis. Ironically lol the myth reduced incentive to write nuanced books, since the story is ‘already known.’
I guess you could also say Bauhaus contradicts the great genius book model, therefore hard to sell.
Nowadays, Bauhaus is cited more often than it is actually studied or read.
I hope I made difference.
(Subtracted one star, because the broader legacy part felt brief)
Economically, socially, and politically. Obviously, I couldn’t skip over the influential Bauhaus school which waged a cultural war against the conservatives, bourgeoisie, political extremists, paramilitary parties, pan-germans, demagogue agitators, and the rest of the anti-republican movements
It’s decently concise, straight to the point and easy to read. Split into different chapters which went in an alright amount of depth without being highly academic to enjoy for somebody who casually wishes to learn about The Bauhaus School of Art. Keep in mind, Bauhaus scholarship is very fragmented, out of print, frequently in german, and scattered across architecture…design… typography…etc. So it’s difficult to find a single definitive book explaining to you the short lived existence (yet very influential) of that school across different categories. The institution itself has been very inconsistent internally, it’s difficult to tell what is *the Bauhaus*; a style? A political project? A pedagogy? Different historians will tell you different things.
I almost forget to add how much suppression they faced from authorities, until they got completely shut down by the Nazis. That led to the archives scattering across the globe due to the members emigrating.
Annndd finally—which is the saddest part, Gropius would have despised this—after ww2 Bauhaus became a myth rather than a historical truth, specifically in the US. Modernism, the art movement it established, produced glossy coffee table books, and dulled corporate branding. That replaced deep analysis. Ironically lol the myth reduced incentive to write nuanced books, since the story is ‘already known.’
I guess you could also say Bauhaus contradicts the great genius book model, therefore hard to sell.
Nowadays, Bauhaus is cited more often than it is actually studied or read.
I hope I made difference.
(Subtracted one star, because the broader legacy part felt brief)
August 11, 2025
I don’t always like getting pushed out of my reading comfort zone except when I do.
For both CBR17 Bingo AND my local library reading game respectively, I had to read a book on art. And like other subjects where I don’t have much of an interest in, I grab something that’s quick and digestible. This one clocked in under 200 pages and had plenty of pictures.
But I do appreciate art history, even if I’m not an expert on the subject. I think art explains a lot of how societies function and in fewer places is that more clear than in the bauhaus movement. The book mostly describes the school that produced the style: Bauhaus in Weimar Germany. “Bau” means to build in a strict sense but it has a more nurturing connotation. That’s what the school was aiming for and I think it worked it effectively.
Bauhaus really does feel like a good summation of art during the Weimar Germany era. You have its focus on clean lines, where every line has a point as Kandinsky, perhaps the most famous person associated with Bauhaus, noted. Even the beautifully designed Bauhaus homes are built with purpose and livability in mind.
At the same time, the abstract nature of many visual bauhaus works suggests the same confusion and transition that followed the dangerous years post-WWI and predated the rise of the Nazis. And in a way of bringing new life out of what died: it was the Nazis who made bauhaus famous post-WWII because they shut down the school and dismissed and destroyed the work as a byproduct of Bolshevist decadent yada yada yada anti-Semitism.
A good intro book if you’re into the movement or want to learn more. Or if you just want an easy book about art history.
For both CBR17 Bingo AND my local library reading game respectively, I had to read a book on art. And like other subjects where I don’t have much of an interest in, I grab something that’s quick and digestible. This one clocked in under 200 pages and had plenty of pictures.
But I do appreciate art history, even if I’m not an expert on the subject. I think art explains a lot of how societies function and in fewer places is that more clear than in the bauhaus movement. The book mostly describes the school that produced the style: Bauhaus in Weimar Germany. “Bau” means to build in a strict sense but it has a more nurturing connotation. That’s what the school was aiming for and I think it worked it effectively.
Bauhaus really does feel like a good summation of art during the Weimar Germany era. You have its focus on clean lines, where every line has a point as Kandinsky, perhaps the most famous person associated with Bauhaus, noted. Even the beautifully designed Bauhaus homes are built with purpose and livability in mind.
At the same time, the abstract nature of many visual bauhaus works suggests the same confusion and transition that followed the dangerous years post-WWI and predated the rise of the Nazis. And in a way of bringing new life out of what died: it was the Nazis who made bauhaus famous post-WWII because they shut down the school and dismissed and destroyed the work as a byproduct of Bolshevist decadent yada yada yada anti-Semitism.
A good intro book if you’re into the movement or want to learn more. Or if you just want an easy book about art history.
May 28, 2025
Нова серія книг від ArtHuss однозначно полонила моє серденько! Це знайомство я почала із «Баугауз (Світ мистецтва)» Френка Вітфорда, у якій він знайомить нас із однією з найвпливовіших шкіл мистецтва та дизайну ХХ століття💭
Дана книга дуже структурована та починається зі створення Баугаузу, його основних ідей та методів викладання. Автор розповідає про викладачів (доволі детально), про їхні роботи та вплив на учнів, а також ділиться інформацією про життя самих студентів. До речі, наприкінці книги є їхнє фото, зроблене у 1976 році біля відреставрованої будівлі школи у Дессау.
На жаль, сама школа проіснувала лише 14 років і була закрита нацистами, але ідеї та спадок цього напряму продовжують своє існування і сьогодні.
Хочу додати, що книга також чудово проілюстрована! Зібрано багато фото-прикладів робіт, учнів, викладачів та самої школи, яка протягом свого існування знаходилася в різних містах Німеччини.
• Найдивовижнішою характеристикою помірно успішних і пізніше знаменитих студентів Баугаузу була їхня неймовірна багатогранність. Не буде перебільшенням сказати, що до закінчення школи більшість із них спробувала себе в усьому й надалі розвивала свою кваліфікацію в широкому діапазоні різних сфер. Вони вміли малювати, фотографувати, створювати дизайн меблів, ліпити горщики й скульптури.
Видавництво: ArtHuss
Більше відгуків на книги за тегом #ВіраЧитає ❤️
Дана книга дуже структурована та починається зі створення Баугаузу, його основних ідей та методів викладання. Автор розповідає про викладачів (доволі детально), про їхні роботи та вплив на учнів, а також ділиться інформацією про життя самих студентів. До речі, наприкінці книги є їхнє фото, зроблене у 1976 році біля відреставрованої будівлі школи у Дессау.
На жаль, сама школа проіснувала лише 14 років і була закрита нацистами, але ідеї та спадок цього напряму продовжують своє існування і сьогодні.
Хочу додати, що книга також чудово проілюстрована! Зібрано багато фото-прикладів робіт, учнів, викладачів та самої школи, яка протягом свого існування знаходилася в різних містах Німеччини.
• Найдивовижнішою характеристикою помірно успішних і пізніше знаменитих студентів Баугаузу була їхня неймовірна багатогранність. Не буде перебільшенням сказати, що до закінчення школи більшість із них спробувала себе в усьому й надалі розвивала свою кваліфікацію в широкому діапазоні різних сфер. Вони вміли малювати, фотографувати, створювати дизайн меблів, ліпити горщики й скульптури.
Видавництво: ArtHuss
Більше відгуків на книги за тегом #ВіраЧитає ❤️
April 1, 2025
Great book to understand how the Bauhaus was created and how it developed, with insights into the most relevant teachers’ background and lives. I found specifically useful how the author linked each part of Bauhaus’ development with the socio-political landscape of the era. That way, we can understand more easily why certain decisions were made and how they influenced the school’s path. Also, giving emphasis on the people of Bauhaus instead of only the products that came out was amazing, because it underpinned how people were actually living and learning there.
December 26, 2019
Read it in French, and I'm so biased to write an honest review, first I have always been fascinated by the Bauhaus methodology as a student, and now a few years later it is undoubtedly one of the most innovative art and architecture institutions that corresponded to its zeitgeist literally !
Since those were war times, and industrialized production... It has utilized design to completely serve industry and capital... Accordingly!
Since those were war times, and industrialized production... It has utilized design to completely serve industry and capital... Accordingly!
August 15, 2025
A trailblazing educational institution in every sense. The Bauhaus is what art educators want their institutions to become, represent progressive thought in the expression of art. So much of art is still influenced by the Bauhaus, from its original vocation in architecture and its evolution into objects, it represented the change that launched the 20th century.
February 28, 2018
Very good if somewhat brief introduction to a subject mentioned often, but the history of which I knew only a little. With many exceptional photographs and illustrations.
Read
September 29, 2021cant find a digital copy sigh
December 10, 2022
Explains the principles of the book pretty consciesly. Tells how the methodolody was so influential. The imagery used in the book is very informative.
April 23, 2023
Bauhaus在作者笔下变的鲜明起来
September 7, 2023
A very easy and nice read. A must for any architecture student as it justifies (in my opinion) to some point why we design things the way we do today.
April 7, 2024
sick book i love feininger and kandinski now
also now if we get any bauhaus questions in quiz im cooking
also now if we get any bauhaus questions in quiz im cooking
April 10, 2024
A survey w some fine illustrations. Fascinating era, but this isnt very interesting, however. See GR review by Elena.
August 19, 2025
Comprehensive book to get know about Bauhaus. Really enjoyed political context of school, management and learning insights. Recommend
November 7, 2025
the most bittersweet art movement i'd say. a good, readable overview.
December 20, 2016
Nice general survey, but left out the Chicago relocation.
September 17, 2016
Keď prvý krát počujete o bauhause, tak je to s malým b v bezpätkovom písme. Spojíte si tým slovom nejaký špecifický design, hovoríte, že áno - mám rada bauhausové veci. A pritom je to inak a ešte zaujímavejšie. A to jednoduché "mám rád Bauhaus" naberie iný a premyslenejší význam.
Samozrejme, je to výborná kniha, ak premýšľate o tom, aký zmysel majú umelecké školy, čo napomáha pestovaniu umenia v úzkom spojení so spoločnosťou.
P.S.: Takže nie portugalské kachličky, ale bauhaus tapety sú mojim nový interiérovým snom.
Samozrejme, je to výborná kniha, ak premýšľate o tom, aký zmysel majú umelecké školy, čo napomáha pestovaniu umenia v úzkom spojení so spoločnosťou.
P.S.: Takže nie portugalské kachličky, ale bauhaus tapety sú mojim nový interiérovým snom.
October 14, 2009
I read this book in an art history class I took and it was really interesting to see where alot of our modern day furniture was created, my teacher called this school, which the book is about, the first IKEA
December 25, 2007
A very comprehensive history of the Bauhaus for the small sum.
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