HERBERT BAYER
DAS KUNSTLERISCHE WERK 1918 - 1938
Eckhard Neumann, Magdalene Droste
Eckhard Neumann, Magdalene Droste: HERBERT BAYER: DAS KUNSTLERISCHE WERK 1918-1938. Berlin: Bauhaus-Archiv, 1982. First edition. Text in German. Perfect-bound, stitched stiff photographically printed wrappers. 200 pp. Color and black and white illustrations. Short bibliography. Lower corner bumped, otherwise a fine copy.
8.25 x 11 softcover book with 200 pages well-illustrated with color and black and white reproductions of Bayer's work as artist, architect, exhibition and industrial designer. Exhibition Catalog for exhibition originating at the Bauhaus-Archiv in May, 1982.
Exceptional document focusing exclusively on Bayer¹s output at the Bauhaus in Weimar and Dessau and his work for Dorland before his immigration to the United States in 1938. Many unusual and rare examples of graphic design, typography, exhibition design, design for an industry, environmental design, painting and murals and more.
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.
The Bauhaus Archive / Museum of Design in Berlin is concerned with the research and presentation of the history and impact of the Bauhaus (1919-1933), the most important school of architecture, design, and art of the 20th century. It is the most complete existing collection focused on the history of the school and all aspects of its work and is accessible to all. The collection is housed in a building drafted by Walter Gropius, the founder of the school.