BAUHAUS DESSAU 1926 –1931. 14 issues of Bauhaus Zeitschrift für Gestaltung published in facsimile: Nendeln/Berlin: Kraus/Bauhaus-Archiv, 1976.

BAUHAUS DESSAU 1926 –1931

Bauhaus Zeitschrift für Gestaltung: 14 issues

Bauhaus-Archiv gmbh

Bauhaus-Archiv gmbh: BAUHAUS DESSAU 1926 –1931 [14 issues of BAUHAUS: ZEITSCHRIFT FUR GESTALTUNG published in facsimile]. Nendeln/Berlin: Kraus/Bauhaus-Archiv, 1976. First edition. All Text in German. 14 facsimile issues of the quarterly house organ of the Bauhaus Dessau and title sheet in Publishers embossed cloth clamshell box. Issues lightly handled and clamshell box with slightly pushed tips. A nearly fine set. Rare.

Extraordinary snapshot of the productivity of the Bauhaus Dessau from its high point under the directorship of Gropius to its sliding decline under Hannes Meyer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Commissioned by the Bauhaus-Archiv in Berlin this set faithfully reproduces all 14 issues of the Bauhaus magazine produced between 1926 to 1931. The reproduction quality leaves a bit to be desired, especially for its noticeable absence of mid-tones in the photographic reproductions, but this set remains an invaluable reference set and an excellent snapshot of life on the Dessau campus. Highly recommended.

Each issue feature the stunning functional graphic design and new typography in vogue amongst the European Avant-Garde in the late 1920s. No single designer was responsible for the production of the journal, so  these issues showcase the graphic skills of a variety of designers, including László Moholy-Nagy, Herbert Bayer, Oskar Schlemmer and others.

Facsimile set includes:

Walter Gropius and László Moholy-Nagy [Editors]: BAUHAUS 1 1926 [Die Zeitschrift Erscheint Vierteljährlich]. Issue design by Moholy-Nagy. 11.5 x 16.5 folded edition with 6 pages overall:

• Gropius Bauhaus Dessau Campus: photo by Lucia Moholy.
• Wassily Kandinsky's Bauhausbucher 9:  a lengthy review.
• A photography article by Moholy-Nagy
• a short piece by George Muche
• Work samples by Gropius, Oskar Schlemmer, Luci moholy, Ruth Hollos, Marianne Brandt, Consemuller and Marcel Breuer.

Walter Gropius and László Moholy-Nagy [Editors]: BAUHAUS 2 1927 [Die Zeitschrift Erscheint Vierteljährlich]. Issue design by Moholy-Nagy. 11.5 x 16.5 folded edition with 6 pages overall:

• Systematische Vorarbeit für Rationellen Wohnungsbau: Walter Gropius.
• Stahlhausbau: George Muche
• Die Petersschule Basel: Hannes Meyer and Hans Wittmer.
• Work samples by Gropius,  Marianne Brandt, Consemuller and Krajewsky-Tumpel.

Walter Gropius and László Moholy-Nagy [Editors]: BAUHAUS 3 1927 [Die Zeitschrift Erscheint Vierteljährlich]. Issue design by Oskar Schlemmer. 11.5 x 16.5 folded edition with 6 pages overall:

• Issue devoted to the Bauhaus Theatre and Oskar Schlemmer's stage and costume designs.  Oskar Schlemmer [Germany, 1888 – 1943] developed his Triadisches Ballett during his tenure as Master of Form at the Bauhaus theatre workshop. The stylized and wildly popular performance featured actors who transformed into geometrical shapes. The Ballett toured from 1922 until 1929 and helped spread the Bauhaus ethos throughout Europe.After his experiences in the First World War, Schlemmer began to conceive the human body as a new artistic medium. He saw ballet and pantomime as free from the historical baggage of theatre and opera and thus able to present his ideas of choreographed geometry, man as dancer, transformed by costume, moving in space. Schlemmer considered the movement of puppets and marionettes as aesthetically superior to that of humans, as it emphasised the artificial nature of every artistic medium. Oskar Schlemmer was invited to Weimar in 1920 by Gropius to run the Bauhaus' sculpture department and stage workshop. He became internationally known with the premiere of hisTriadisches Ballett  in Stuttgart in 1922 . . . . Schlemmer spent the years 1928 to 1930 working on nine murals for the Folkwang Museum in Essen. After Gropius' resignation in 1929, Schlemmer also left the Bauhaus and accepted a post at the Akademie in Breslau. He was given a professorship at theVereinigte Staatsschulen  in Berlin in 1932, but the National Socialists forced him to resign in 1933. During the war, Schlemmer worked at theInstitut für Malstoffe  in Wuppertal . . . . He led a secluded life at the end of his career and made the small series of eighteen mysticalFensterbilder  in 1942.

Walter Gropius and László Moholy-Nagy [Editors]: BAUHAUS 4 1927 [Die Zeitschrift Erscheint Vierteljährlich]. Issue design by Hannes Meyer. 11.5 x 16.5 folded edition with 6 pages overall:

• Issue devoted to devoted to the output of the various Dessau workshops. Includes work by Lis Beyer, Gunta Stolzl, Josef Albers, Walter Gropius, Marianne Brandt, Marcel Breuer, Max Bayer, and more.

Walter Gropius and László Moholy-Nagy [Editors]: BAUHAUS 1928 [Die Zeitschrift Erscheint Vierteljährlich]. Cover and issue design by Herbert Bayer. 8.5 x 11.5 saddle-stitched edition with 20 pages overall:

• Fotografie ist Lictgestaltung  by Moholy-Nagy with photograms and photoplastiks by Moholy and images by Ulrich Klavun, Consemuller, Albert Braun and Lotte Beese, and Bayer-Hecht.
• Typografie und websachengestaltung  by Herbert Bayer.
• Two pages devoted to a small housing development by Marcel Breuer.
• This edition of BAUHAUS features a new, smaller format as well as [the first appearance of advertising for the journal. The last two pages are vintage advertisements for Marcel Breuer's tubular steel furniture for Standard-Mobel and others.  This issue presents one of the iconic images of 20th-century graphic design in Herbert Bayer's magnificent photographic cover.  This edition was was the last issue produced under the leadership of Gropius and Moholy-Nagy, and reflects the absolute zenith of the publication in terms of editorial content and graphic design.

Ernst Kallai [Editor]: BAUHAUS 2/3 1928 [Zeitschrift für Gestaltung].  8.5 x 11.5 saddle-stitched edition with 40 pages overall:

• This edition was the first produced under the new directorship of Hannes Meyer after the departures of Gropius, Moholy-Nagy and Herbert Bayer.  Editor Kallai apparently solicited editorial content from the remaining masters for publication in this deluxe 40-page edition.
• Werklicher Forunterricht  by Josef Albers.
• Kunstpadagogik  by Wassily Kandinsky.
• Die Bundesschule des ADGB in Bernau bei Berlin  by Adolph Behne.
• Erlauterungen zum Schulprojekt  by Hannes Meyer.
• M-Kunst  by Mart Stam.
• Exakte Versuche im Bereich der Kunst  by Paul Klee.
• Schrift?  by Joost Schmidt.
• Plastik... und das am Bauhaus!?!?  by Joost Schmidt.
• Unterrichsgebiete  by Oskar Schlemmer.
• Interview mit Bauhauslern ein Bild, ein Mensch   by Ernst Kallai.
• Junge Bauhausmaler  by Ludwig Grote.
• And more.

Ernst Kallai [Editor]: BAUHAUS 4 1928 [Zeitschrift für Gestaltung].  8.5 x 11.5 saddle-stitched edition with 36 pages overall:

• This edition was the first produced under the new directorship of Hannes Meyer after the departures of Gropius, Moholy-Nagy and Herbert Bayer.  Editor Kallai apparently solicited editorial content from the remaining masters for publication in this deluxe 40-page edition.
• Bescheldene Malerei  by Ernst Kallai.
• ”Gestaltung?  by Naum Gabo.
• ”Probleme um die Lichtreklame  by Hugo Haring.
• Internationaler Kongress fur Neues Bauen.”
• Reihenhausprojekt fur Tel Aviv  by Tolziner.
• Entwurf zu einer Siedlungsschule  by Ernst Gohl
• Bauen  by Hannes Meyer.
• Mobel aus Holz oder metall oder?  by Gustav Hassenpflug.
• Ein belienbter vorwurf gegen das Bauhaus by Ernst Kallai.
• Interview mit Bauhauslern  by Ernst Kallai.
• And more.

Ernst Kallai [Editor]: BAUHAUS 1 1929 [Vierteljährlich-Zeitschrift für Gestaltung]. 8.5 x 11.5 saddle-stitched edition with 36 pages overall:

• Bauhaus und Gesellschafti  by Hannes Meyer.
• Wir leben nicht, um zu Wohnen  by Ernst Kallai.
• Bauen und Leben.
• Goldene Ketten --eiserne Ketten.
• Eine bach-fuge im Bild by H. Neugeboren.
• Entwurf zu einem Burogebaude by Mart Stam.
• Bauhausstil by Maraianne Brandt and Naum Gabo.
• Entwurf zu einem Haus des arbeiterrates in Jeruslame by Arieh Sharon.
• And more.

Ernst Kallai [Editor], Joost Schmidt [Designer]: BAUHAUS 2 1929 [Vierteljährlich-Zeitschrift für Gestaltung].  8.5 x 11.5 saddle-stitched edition with 36 pages overall:

• Kleinstwohnungen.  Text and illustrations by Ludwig Hilberseimer.
• Filmrhythmus, Filmgestaltung.  Includes photographs by Lotte Gerson, Andreas Feininger, Werner Feist, and Naftali Rubenstein.
• Malerie und Film.  Includes photographs by Walter Peterhans, Andreas Feininger, and Walter Funkat.
• Augendemokratie und Dergleichen.  3 photographs by Fritz Kuhr.
• Handwerk und Industrie.  Chair designs by Josef Albers and Lotte Gerson.
• Welt-Reklame-Kongress by Ludwig Hilberseimer.
• Zwei Plakate der Hapag
• Bauhausnachrichten
• Buchbesprechungen
• And more.

Ernst Kallai [Editor], Joost Schmidt [Designer]: BAUHAUS 3 1929 [Vierteljährlich-Zeitschrift für Gestaltung]. 8.5 x 11.5 saddle-stitched edition with 36 pages overall:

• Junkerskoje gas und wasser.  Exhibition design by Alexander Schawinsky, Joost Schmidt and Johan Niegerman. Photo by Stone.
• Veranwortung des schaffenden.  Text by Hans Reidel. Exhibition design by Alexander Schawinsky and Joost Schmidt.  Photos by Stone, Jacobi
• Lob des plakates.  Text by E. Gimenez Cabailero.
• Kinderzeichnungen.  Text by Lene Schmidt-Nonne. Artwork by children aged 9 - 11.
• Schöpferische Erziehung Text by  H. F. Geist. Artwork by children aged 9 - 10.
• Kindheit der iris Text by Ernst Kallai. Two drawings by Paul Klee.
• Der Fragen Text by Fritz Kuhr.
• Bauhausnachrichten Features stage work by Oskar Schlemmer, photographed by Albert Braun, Lux Feininger, Anne Binnemann. Buildings by Hannes Meyer, photographed by Walter Peterhans.
• And more.

Ernst Kallai [Editor], Joost Schmidt [Designer]: BAUHAUS 4 1929 [Vierteljährlich-Zeitschrift für Gestaltung]. 8.5 x 11.5 saddle-stitched edition with 36 pages overall:

• Lieber Oskar Schlemmer
• Die Bühne
• Der Maler Oskar Schlemmer by Will Grohmann
• Analyse Eines Bildes by Oskar Schlemmer
• Die Geometrie
• Bildbau by Willie Baumeister.
• Exakte Gestaltung by George Vantongerloo.
• Zweite Internationaler Kongress für Neues Bauen by Adolf Meyer et al.
• And more.

Ludwig Hilberseimer [Editor]: BAUHAUS 1 1931  [Zeitschrift für Gestaltung].  8.5 x 11.5 folded edition with 4 pages overall:

• Die Kleinstwohnung im Treppenlosen  by Ludwig Hilberseimer.
• Kombinationsschrift 3  by Josef Albers.
• And more.

Josef Albers [Editor]: BAUHAUS 2 1931  [Zeitschrift für Gestaltung].  8.5 x 11.5 edition saddle-stitched edition with 8 pages overall:

• Die Entwicklung der Bauhauswerbei by Gunta Sharon-Stolzl.
• Mein Besuch in der Textilwerkstatt des Bauhauses  by Amandee Ozenfant.
• And more.

Wassily Kandinsky [Editor]: BAUHAUS 3 1931  [Zeitschrift für Gestaltung].  8.5 x 11.5 edition saddle-stitched edition with 12 pages overall:

• A full-length feature Paul Klee und die Tradition by Will Grohmann.
• And more.

“. . . typography is an instrument of communication. It has to be clear communication in the most penetrating form. Clarity must be particularly emphasized since this is the essence of our writing as compared with pictorial communication of ages ago. Our intellectual approach to the world is individually precise in contrast to the former individually and later collectively amorphous. Foremost, therefore: absolute clarity in all typographical works. Legibility—communication, that is, must never suffer from a priori assumed aesthetics. The letter types must never be squeezed into a pre-determined form.” — László Moholy-Nagy, 1923

Walter Gropius and László Moholy-Nagy served as Editorial Directors for the first five issues of Bauhaus Die Zeitschrift Erscheint Vierteljährlich published in Dessau from 1926 to 1931. The journal served as an extension of the Bauhaus teaching tradition with articles by Walter Gropius, Paul Klee, Adolf Meyer, Oskar Schlemmer, László Moholy-Nagy or as as anthologies of work produced by the various Bauhaus materials workshops.

Prior to the 20th century, when artists were called upon to illustrate texts or provide posters for advertising, their function was to provide visual images that bore no formal relationship to the message. In other words, the illustration was simply a diversion.

More than any other group, the expositional, programmatic set of Bauhaus periodicals engineered one of the most consistently remarkable episodes in the history of the art of the book. The books and journals edited by Walter Gropius and László Moholy-Nagy rigorously demonstrate format as a systematic support of content and are discussed in Jan Tschichold’s classic and influential Die Neue Typograhie of 1928. The Bauhaus publishing program serve as testaments to the graphic design pioneered at the Bauhaus by Moholy-Nagy and Herbert Bayer. The layout of the pages designed by Moholy-Nagy—bold sans-serif captions floating in white space; compositions composed of arrows, dots and heavy ruled lines—is much more like a movie storyboard or a musical score.