PAINTINGS 1942
Herbert Bayer
Herbert Bayer: PAINTINGS 1942. New York: Willard Gallery, March 1942. Original edition. 7.25 x 10.5 green sheet printed on recto only. Two parallel folds for mailing [as issued]. Short closed tear to top edge. Lower corner with small crease. A very good example. Rare.
7.25 x 10.5 Exhibition announcement for an exhibition of Herbert Bayer’s paintings at the Willard Gallery from March 9 to 27th, 1942. Includes a testimonial by James Johnson Sweeney, curator for the Museum of Modern Art when Bayer assembled the Bauhaus 1919 – 1928 exhibition in the Fall of 1938.
The Exhibition consisted of 12 works, including metamorphosis, interplanetary exchange, experiences in atmosphere, sketch for “experiences in atmosphere,” celestial spaces, antipodes, two worlds, fata morgana, current along meridian, skirmish, clashing forces, and what makes the weather. Those titles sound like a playlist for an Ambient DJ. But I bet it was a good show.
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. [bayer_2019]