THE BAUHAUS AND ART DECO

From gas stations to diners, movie theaters to the Golden Gate Bridge, a variety of structures were built in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s in the Art Deco style of architecture. Beginning in the 1980s, the style saw a resurgence as architectural preservationists fought to protect buildings from that era from being demolished.

"The historic 'art deco' district of South Beach, in Miami, Florida, is one of the most successful urban restoration projects in the history of American architecture."* In the 1980s and 1990s, hundreds of Art Deco buildings were restored to the way they originally looked."*

*Citation Steve Allan, “Art Deco South Beach,” Architecture Week (October 30, 2002)

OBJECTIVES

• Discuss the political situation in Germany between the wars.

• Describe the Bauhaus style.

• Identify the Bauhaus in Dessau.

• Characterize Art Deco.

VOCABULARY

GERMANY BETWEEN WARS

In 1918 at the end of World War I, the leaders of Germany and the Allied Forces (Britain, France, and the U.S.) signed the Treaty of Versailles. The Allies required Germany to accept full responsibility for the war and to pay billions of dollars in reparations. Germany also had to give up some of its territory.

In 1919, Germany became a democratic republic called the Weimer Republic, named after the small city where the country's constitution was drafted. But the young republic faced serious problems: Many in Germany deplored the Treaty of Versailles and wanted to destroy the republic. Some of these were communists of the far left wing, but the more powerful opposition came from those of the right wing (the military, financial elites, and state bureaucracy), who wanted an authoritarian government, or a dictatorship.

(For an in-depth explanation of "right wing" and "left wing" go to this website: Left-Wing, Right-Wing and the Centre)

This discontent with Germany's losses combined with the financial devastation caused by the Great Depression created fertile ground for the National Socialist party, allowing the party leader Adolph Hitler to gain the support of a people desperate for someone to blame for their problems.

Hitler and a former army officer formed the Storm Troops, Hitler's private army. With a growing following among ex-soldiers, the lower middle class, and small farmers, Hitler attempted to overthrow the legitimate government in 1923, but failed. Hitler's efforts earned him time in jail, but it was less than a year. When he got out, he decided to try a different route to power. Hitler and his National Socialist, or Nazi, Party used propaganda and the media to gain the support of the German people and win elections. In January 1933, Hitler was appointed chancellor. It wasn't long before Hitler had dictatorial control over Germany.

The Nazi rise to power meant many things to Germany. In addition to persecuting Jews and Communists, the Nazis targeted anyone who disagreed with their views. Art was to serve only one purpose now: advance the ideals of the Nazis. This expectation spelled the end of the era of the Bauhaus, an international art movement begun in Germany between the two world wars.

THE BAUHAUS

The Bauhaus was a school founded by the architect Walter Gropius in Weimar, Germany, in 1919, the same year that the Weimar Republic was established. The Bauhaus philosophy was based on the principles of the nineteenth-century English designer William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement. The foundation of the Bauhaus philosophy, founded on the principles of the nineteenth century designer William Morris, was that art should functionally meet the needs of people. This idea transitioned the focus of art from aesthetic objects such as paintings and sculptures to objects such as household items and furniture. The Bauhaus school emphasized the importance that modern art and architecture should support the needs of the industrialized society and should meet or exceed aesthetic and engineering standards; essentially it should reconcile art and craft.

Wassily Chair by Jeff Belmonte

In 1926, Gropius designed and built a new building for the school on the outskirts of Dessau, an important center for industry. It was unlike any building ever seen. With a glass curtain wall, tiny balconies, flat roof terraces, and steel-frame and right-angled construction, the structure was a model of clean lines and clarity. 

Gropius emphasized an industrial look and asymmetrical design. He believed that what is usually hidden should be visible. Glass should be the material used most often for walls, bolts were out in the open, and it was obvious which raw materials had been used in the building. Every aspect of the building, including door knobs and light switches, was designed to be aesthetically pleasing and yet also to be functional. The interior decoration was designed and built by students who learned how to work with modern, mass-produced materials.

The Bauhaus school taught courses in commercial and industrial design, arts and crafts, typography, and architecture. They also had courses in traditional mediums such as painting and sculpture. The typical Bauhaus style was characterized by simple, plain, and functional designs. With the new Bauhaus style, a global style of architecture would soon emerge.

Interestingly, the Nazi party felt that the Bauhaus building was to aesthetically over the top. Once this was known, Gropius left the school. In 1930, architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe became the director and moved the school to Berlin in 1932. Even though the Nazis closed it a year later, the influence of the school became internationally known. Many of the Bauhaus instructors moved to America where they further spread the Bauhaus philosophy in architecture and art schools.

This image is of the first international-style skyscraper designed in 1932 in Philadelphia by a team of international architects: 1932 skyscraper.

Another example of the international style is the Villa Savoye, by LeCorbusier. The villa stands on thin concrete pillars. Notice the strip windows, the flat roof, and the curvaceous ornamental walls above the sharply squared walls. Record this image in your art journal. LeCorbusier thought that architecture should take full advantage of natural light.

Gropius left Germany in the 1930s and eventually settled in the United States where he taught at Harvard Graduate School of Design and influenced a number of American architects. In 1938 Mies van der Rohe became Director of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology.

The Bauhaus building in Dessau was used for various purposes for several years, and then it was abandoned. But the building was restored in 1976 and in 1994 it was turned into a public foundation for the purpose of preserving, transmitting and studying the "legacy of the historic Bauhaus."

The building is now on the UNESCO World Culture and Natural History list.

ART DECO

Art Deco, a stylistic movement of the 1920s and 30s, was influenced by the following:

• Art Nouveau

• Cubism

• Futurism

• the discovery and opening of King Tutankhamen's tomb in 1922 with its rich Egyptian treasures

The streamlined and sophisticated style found in Art Deco was incorporated into the designs of automobiles, furniture, buildings, decor, and jewelry. The Art Deco movement officially began in 1910, however, the term was not used until 1925 at the Paris design exhibition called the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes.

Characteristics include:

• design based on color and light

• pastel colors

• sleek lines

• symmetry

• nautical motifs

• curved corners

• geometric and curvilinear designs

Notice the rounded corners, the symmetrical design and the"eyelid" surface decorations over the windows of the Marlin Hotel.

An example of the work of one of Art Deco's first jewelers can be found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Go to the website, read the text.

Examples of Art Deco architecture in the U.S. include:

• the interior of Radio City Music Hall (1931)

• the Chrysler building (1930, New York City)

• the South Beach historic preservation area of Miami Beach

Read the article about South Beach's Art Deco district,  Art Deco buildings.

LET'S REVIEW!

In this lesson, you have covered the following topics:

• Bauhaus was an art school in Germany between the world wars, that became associated with a style of simplicity and functionality

• Many of the Bauhaus artists and architects moved to the United States when the Nazis rose to power and exerted a strong influence on American architecture

• Another movement that affected design in architecture, art, furnishings, and so on was known as the Art Deco movement, which reflected American enthusiasm for speed, movement, and progress

Complete the quiz before moving on.