Bauhaus exhibitions in 2019 celebrating the school’s centenary

Bauhaus exhibitions in galleries and musuems across the world are plenty in 2019. Here we look at some of the shows shedding light on the school and consequent movement of modernism.

From its founding in 1919 by Walter Gropius in Weimar, and subsequent closure in 1933, the Bauhaus theories and ideas spread out across the world through the architects (and their pupils) who attended the school to many different geographical places.

Germany’s ‘Bauhaus Imaginista’ programme features four exhibitions worldwide (China, Japan, Russia and Brazil)  that are happening this year and next, while a string of institutional exhibitions across Germany look at the waves Bauhaus made in the nation of its founding...

Beyond Bauhaus: Modernism in Britain 1933–66

The Royal Institute of British Architects explores the development of British modernist architecture through the influence of the Bauhaus movement. The exhibition focuses on the work of three notable Bauhaus émigrés – Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer and László Moholy-Nagy – and their impact during their brief time in Britain. The work of Denys Lasdun, Eric Lyons, and Mary Crowley (later Medd), leading innovators in post-war British architecture, will be examined within the context of Bauhaus. Highlights include drawings and plans of the unbuilt Isokon 3 building, photographs by ex-Bauhaus student Edith Tudor-Hart and archival films from the 1930s including work by László Moholy-Nagy. Exhibition design by Chile-based practice Pezo Von Ellrichshausen promises an enjoyable aesthetic experience in the gallery.

Netherlands – Bauhaus: Pioneers of a new world

The principles of Bauhaus resonated in the Netherlands through architecture, design and design education and many Dutch artists, architects and designers contributed to the development of this German movement. This exhibition explores this relationship through around 800 objects of architecture, design, textiles, photography and typography, with a focus on Rotterdam, between the two world wars, where Dutch modernism founds its expression. The time frame starts pre-Bauhaus when Dutch practitioners joined Deutsche Werkbund set up in 1907, to the influence of the De Stijl magazine during the school and then to post-Bauhaus when several members came to the Netherlands.

Frankfurt Modernism 1919-1933

This exhibition is a celebration of modern design in Frankfurt am Main in the 1920s, when the city became a hub for design. Beyond the ‘New Frankfurt’ housing construction programme initiated by Ernst May, the city adopted modernism in many other ways, from fashion to interiors, products and communication design. This activity was happening alongside industrialisation and the devlopment of urban communities. Key pieces of architecture represent the period: the reconstructed trade fair, the city’s building department and the Frankfurt art school, which underwent significant reorientation under Fritz Wichert.

Josef Rings and Erich Mendelsohn: New building in Germany and Mandatory Palestine

In collaboration with Moses Mendelsohn Zentrum in Potsdam and Alte Synagoge Essen, the Bauhaus Center Tel Aviv presents and exhibition exploring the two architects styles in their respective geographic locations. The exhibition was supported by the ‘100 years Bauhaus in the West’ project from the Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia and other German regional organisations.

Bauhaus Imaginista, Learning from São Paulo

The Bauhaus Imaginista programme moves beyond the framework of Bauhaus in Germany (1919–33) exploring its international reach. In an exhibition as part of the ‘Learning From’ series of events, SESC São Paulo and the Goethe-Institut São Paulo present an exhibition that looks at the role of Bauhaus in areas of premodern, indigenous and precolonial craft practices in the American continents.

The exhibition is located at São Paulo’s SESC Pompéia, a former factory converted into a cultural centre by Lina Bo Bardi. Inspired by the Bauhaus, Bo Bardi established the Institute of Contemporary Art (IAC), in 1951 at the Museum of Art São Paulo (MASP) and her work is present as a thread throughout the exhibition.

Original Bauhaus, Bauhaus-Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung in cooperation with the Berlinische Galerie

This exhibition presents the ‘famous, familiar and forgotten Bauhaus originals’ including art and design objects from the Bauhaus-Archiv’s collection, loans from international collections and the history behind them and re-examine the Bauhaus legacy. The 14 objects will each be a case study for more questions, for example: How did the woman sitting on the tubular-steel chair become the most famous anonymous figure from the Bauhaus? And, does the Haus am Horn in Weimar have a secret twin?

See more on Bauhaus here

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Bauhaus 100 website