BAUHAUS EXHIBITION
The Bulletin of the Museum of Modern Art, Volume 5, Number 6, December 1938
Herbert Bayer
Herbert Bayer: BAUHAUS EXHIBITION [The Bulletin of the Museum of Modern Art]. New York: Museum of Modern Art, Volume 5, Number 6, December 1938. First edition. Stapled printed self-wrappers. 8 pp. Cover design and typography by Herbert Bayer. Wrappers lightly worn with mild abrasion to the lower edge throughout. Interior unmarked and clean. Out-of-print. A very good or better copy of a scarce document.
7.5 x 9.25 8-page stapled bulletin illustrated with 16 black and white photographs. Issued to accompany the now legendary Bauhaus exhibition of 1938/39 - the first major Bauhaus exhibition to be held in the United States. As with the exhibition, the bulletin was designed throughout by Bayer with photographs by Sunami, Newhall, and Bayer himself. There is even a snapshot of Frank Lloyd Wright hobnobbing with Walter and Ise Gropius!
Entitled Bauhaus 1919-1928, the exhibition gave the first comprehensive review of the development of the institute under Gropius (no material from the later Bauhaus was shown). Preparation and technical arrangements were entrusted to Herbert Bayer, paving the way for his own emigration to America shortly afterwards. The Bulletin was a privilege, sent to members of MOMA.
Copies of this short publication are decidedly uncommon and the present offering represents a rare opportunity to acquire one of the more elusive Bauhaus publications.
From the monograph published in association with this show: "Bauhaus 1919-1928 remains one of the most valuable accounts of the magnificent achievements of the school. The book is a point-for-point record of actual programs and projects at the Bauhaus, prepared by Herbert Bayer under the general editorship of Walter Gropius and with the collaboration of a dozen other Bauhaus teachers -- including Kandinsky, Klee, Feininger, Schlemmer, Itten, Moholy-Nagy, Albers, and Breuer. Rather than a retrospective history, here is a collection of photographs, articles, and notes prepared on the field of action. It may be considered as much a work of the Bauhaus as it is a work about it; even the typography and layout for the volume were designed by a former Bauhaus master. "
"This book on the Bauhaus was published in conjunction with the Museum Of Arts exhibition, Bauhaus 1919-28. Like the exhibition, it was for the most part limited to the first nine years of the institution, the period during which Gropius was director. For reasons beyond the control of any of the individuals involved, the last five years of the Bauhaus could not be represented. During those five years much excellent work was done and the international reputation of the Bauhaus increased rapidly, but, unfortunately for the purposes of this book, the fundamental character of the Bauhaus had already been established under Gropius' leadership. This book is primarily a collection of evidence - photographs, articles and notes done on the field of action, and assembled here with a minimum of retrospective revision."
Of all the artists to pass through the Bauhaus, none lived the Bauhaus ideal of total integration of the arts into life like Herbert Bayer (1900 - 1985). He was a graphic designer, typographer, photographer, painter, environmental designer, sculptor and exhibition designer. He entered the Bauhaus in 1921 and was greatly influenced by Kandinsky, Moholy-Nagy and El Lissitzky. He left in 1923, but returned in 1925 to become a master in the school. During his tenure as a Bauhaus master he produced many designs that became standards of a Bauhaus "style." Bayer was instrumental in moving the Bauhaus to purely sans serif usage in all its work. In 1928 he left the Bauhaus to work in Berlin. He primarily worked as a designer and art director for the Dorland Agency, an international firm. During his years at Dorland a Bayer style was established. Bayer emigrated to the United States in 1938 and set up practice in New York. His US design included work for NW Ayers, consultant art director for J. Walter Thompson and design work for GE. From 1946 on he worked exclusively for Container Corporation of America (CCA) and the Atlantic Richfield Corporation. In 1946 he moved to Aspen to become design consultant to CCA. In 1956 he became chairman of the department of design, a position he held until 1965. He was awarded the AIGA medal in 1970. Bayer's late work included work for ARCO and many personal projects including several environmental designs.