Corina Thornton.

The Bauhaus: education and making

1. Choose one Bauhaus Master as your focus.

Here are some examples to get you thinking: Walter Gropius, Johannes Itten,

Paul Klee, Josef Albers, Marcel Breuer, Gunta Stolzl (the only female Master),

Mies van der Rohe. Briefly outline their own discipline, then discuss their

impact as teachers, and their own theories about education, politics, or

visual culture.

How does this person’s approach relate to ongoing issues at the Bauhaus

such as: art versus craft, new materials or new technologies, making by hand,

gender, and mass production?

Did the politics of the time have a direct impact on their career?

How did the economic hardships of the time affect choices made?

Tutor: Sarah Foster

Submitted: 17/10/2022

Word count: 1884

1
Bauhaus was a Utopian school of Art and Design opened in the new Weimar

Republic, Germany . Gropius, Walter (1883-1969) was the first director1 of the new

Bauhaus school which was both created and destroyed by the extreme swings of

politics during its time (1919-1933). I have chosen to focus this essay on the Junior

Master of weaving, Stölzl, Gunta (1897-1983) who became the first and only female

Master in the Bauhaus school (See Fig. 1). Stölzl was a weaver and stated later that

weaving was ‘an aesthetic whole. A unity of form, colour and substance’.2 Stölzl was

‘one of the most original weavers of this century and finest of her generation,

Translating complex formal compositions into hand-woven carpets, curtains, runners

and designing for machine production.’ - Whitford, Frank (1941 – 2014).3

During the first world war Stölzl had witnessed the immense trauma of lives lost and

great destruction whilst serving as a nurse behind the front lines of the first World

War. Like many creatives in this era, Stölzl hungered for radical change in of visual

representation. Rather than returning to the ‘parochial and conservative’ school of

Applied Arts in Munich, Stölzl entered the Bauhaus doors as a student in its first year

of existence, 1919. 4 Bauhaus offered a living and working ideal, with equal rights for

1
The Bauhaus-Masters and Students by themselves. Edited by Whitford, Frank
Publisher: Conran Octopus ltd, 37 Sheldon Street, London, WC2h 9HN. 1992 Pg.8
2
Monika Stadler – Daughter of Stölzl, Gunta. Bauhaus- Art as life: A Daughter’s perspective. You tube.
3
Bauhaus. Whitford, Frank. Publisher: Thames and Hudson, Bloomsbury St. London. 1984
4
Bauhaus women: A. global perspective. Otto, Elizabeth and Rössler, Patrick. Publisher: Bloomsbury
publishing plc, 50 Bedford Sq., WC1B 3DP, U.K. 2019 pg.22

2
women as enshrined in the new Weimar republic’s laws penned that same year. It

was this awakening spirit that was reflected in the marriage of Applied arts and Fine

Arts (See Fig. 2) within Bauhaus, which fostered the visual intellect of talented young

people from both sexes, all classes and cultures from across the world, drawing them

in with a faculty of some of the finest artists of its time.

The Bauhaus women, (a.k.a. Bauhäusler) though never allowed to live in the campus

accommodations, found wild liberation in their dismissal of the conforms of

ostentation. Corsets were discarded, female sensuality and self-portrayal danced

into being while machines, automobiles and railways were shrinking space and time

throughout Europe.5 Itten, Johannes (1888-1967) was appointed master of form,

offering a richly spiritual, esoteric pedagogy to The Bauhaus, encouraging

vegetarianism (catered for by the progressive Bauhaus Cafeteria).6 Teachers

Kandinsky, Wassily (1866-1944), Le Corbusier (1887-1965) and Wright, Frank Lloyd

(1867-1959) were all educated through the Gestalt Kindergarten teachings of

Froebel, Friedrich (1782-1852) who’s methodologies echoed through the Bauhaus. 7

(See Fig.3) Gropius describes ‘Abstract play in expression of the world around us,

with ultimate simplicity of geometry and colour so as to express a fundamental,

universal language’. Stölzl’s abstract works on paper (See Fig.4) show the influences

of her drawing teachers Klee, Paul (1879-1940) and Kandinsky.8 (see Fig. 5)

5
Bauhaus Women. Art. Handicraft. Design. Müller, Ulrike. Publisher: Flammarion, S.A., Paris 2009. Pg
7
6
https://www.bauhauskooperation.com/knowledge/the-bauhaus/people/biography/565/
7
The ABC’s of Bauhaus and Design Theory. Edited by Lupton, Emma and Miller, J. Abbot. Published
by Thames and Hudson. Pg.18
8
Monika Stadler – Daughter of Stölzl, Gunta. Bauhaus- Art as life: A Daughter’s perspective. you tube

3
Weimar was Stölzl’s creative heyday, she was especially porous to the Bauhaus

philosophies, richly emulating weight, colour and composition styles in a geometric

language within the weaving and swiftly become Bauhaus’s most successful

producer, teacher and innovator. The ‘women’s class’ was lacking any professional

instruction, so Stölzl supplemented her own learning with courses in Krefeld, in both

Dying techniques and weave & fibre technology.9 (See Fig. 6) Stölzl brought these

techniques back to the Bauhäusler.10 ‘We gradually grew a new and independent

trend ..play produced free, amazing results with no thought of outcome’. – Albers,

Anni (1899-1994).11 Albers joined the weavers in 1922 after leaving behind the

misogynist adversity of the Architecture department.12

Stölzl experimented with interrupted stripes (later a hallmark style), applying point

symmetry, practicing double weave and triple weave and introducing slits, producing

much of her work and practice on horizontal looms. These were quicker and

cheaper than the vertical tapestry loom, and could be multiplied easier which fitted

the Bauhaus philosophy.13 Stölzl required proactive creativity through innovation,

improvisation and experimentation and together they furnished the Bauhaus

9
https://guntastolzl.org/about
10
Bauhaus Textiles: Women artists of the weaving workshop. Weltge, Singrid Wortman. Publisher:
Thames and Hudson Ltd, London. 1993 Pg.49
11
The Bauhaus Reassessed. Sources and design theory. Naylor, Gillian. Publisher: Herbert Press Ltd. 46
Northchurch Rd, London. 1985 pg. 109
12
The Story of Art, Without Men. Hessel, Katy. Publisher: Hutchinson Heinemann 2022. Pg.167
13
Monika Stadler – Daughter of Stölzl, Gunta. Bauhaus- Art as life: A Daughter’s perspective. YouTube

4
buildings, offices, floors and windows with exquisite textiles designed in the Bauhaus

fashion. (See Fig.7)

Affectionately called the ‘weaving mother’, Stölzl fostered the closeness and special

qualities of the Bauhäusler playing out ideas together, with flexibility of medium,

thought and experimentation. There was a great unity of friendship and fun,

experimentation and ambition between the students and Stölzl led naturally, forging

a path towards industrial and creative unity in the weaving workshop. (See Fig. 8)

The Bauhäusler elevated the craft of weaving to an exhalted art form which raised

valuable financial renumeration for the Bauhaus during a desperate period of

national economic collapse.14 (See fig.9)

Though a successful workshop, (and whilst male Bäuhaus artists were gaining artistic

recognition) the weavers were not allowed to own their achievements in their own

name, (i.e. no signatures on the work). All credit, brand and ownership of work

belonged to Bauhaus. (See fig.10) though many weavers and designers later went on

to achieve International success.15

Part of the rise in StöIzl’s position in the Bauhaus was her tenacity and deep instinct

for the material with an innate ability to overcome problems in a short amount of

14
Bauhaus Women. A Global Perspective. Otto, Elizabeth and Rössler, Patrick. Publisher:
Bloomsbury publishing plc, 50 Bedford Sq., WC1B 3DP, U.K. 2019 pg.9
15
Bauhaus Women. A Global Perspective. Otto, Elizabeth and Rössler, Patrick. Publisher: Bloomsbury
publishing plc, 50 Bedford Sq., WC1B 3DP, U.K. 2019 Pg.22

5
time. 16 Stölzl had her school fees waived and was awarded a scholarship,17 and in

1925 was the first woman ever to pass the Journeyman exam. (See fig.11) Gropius

wrote, the Bauhaus is ‘establishing a language of form that would represent the

elimination of social as well as national barriers’.18 This is a noble ideal, Yet Bauhaus

hid a paternalist agenda to keep women in a ‘soft’ place, away from ‘hard’

traditionally masculine finer art workshops.19 In her lecture about her mother,

Stadler, Monika, tells of the men ‘still being secretly scared that too many women

would bring an amateur quality to the school.’20 (See Fig. 12)

National politics during this period were as unstable as the economy, the National

Socialist party took control of the Progressive Social Democratic Weimer government

in 1924 and forced the State Bauhaus in Weimar to close in 1925. This so called

degenerative art was considered a threat to the unfolding agenda in post-war

Germany. Meanwhile, a battle also raged internally as the Bauhäusler craved

personal careers and recognition while the male masters believed marriage and

motherhood more suitable.21 (It is important to note here that six gifted weavers

were at the time were married to masters and eventually gave up their personal

16
Bauhaus Textiles: Women artists of the weaving workshop. Weltge, Singrid Wortman. Publisher:
Thames and Hudson Ltd, London. 1993. Pg.46
17
Bauhaus Women. A Global Perspective. Otto, Elizabeth and Rössler, Patrick. Publisher: Bloomsbury
publishing plc, 50 Bedford Sq., WC1B 3DP, U.K. 2019 pg.24
18
The Bauhaus Reassessed. Sources and design theory. Naylor, Gillian. Publisher: Herbert Press Ltd. 46
Northchurch Rd, London. 1985 pg. 9
19
Ibid Pg. 9
20
Monika Stadler – Daughter of Stölzl, Gunta. Bauhaus- Art as life: A Daughter’s perspective. you
tube.
21
Bauhaus. Edited by Fiedler, Jeanine and Feierabend, Peter. Publisher: Könemann
Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Cologne. 1999 Pg.471

6
creativity for the support of their husbands’ so, this drive for individual creative

respect became blazing battle of wills.

During the move to its purpose built complex in Dessau through 1925/26, many

changes and additions of teachers, masters and students took place. (See Fig. 13)

Muche, Georg (1895-1987) left as Weaving Master in1927, and Stölzl was officially

given the Junior Master title though she had been filling the role for many years.

Stölzl was, however, omitted from wage rises through the Dessau contract, and

continued to earn significantly less than her male colleagues .22 (See Fig. 14)

The march into industrialism continued and Stölzl wrote about this Industrial

evolution within the walls of Bauhaus in her writing entitled The development of the

Bauhaus weaving workshop 1931:

Gradually a change took place. We began to sense how pretentious these

independent, unique pieces were- tablecloths, curtains, wall coverings. The
richness of colour and form became too licentious for us; it did not adapt itself,
it did not subordinate itself to living. We tried to become more simple, to
discipline our means, to use these in a more straightforward and functional
way. Thus we came to yarn goods which could directly serve the room, the
living problem. The watchword of the new epoch was ‘models for industry.23

As Junior Master, Stölzl created a separation between the teaching and the

production side of the workshop to better facilitate the larger orders they were

winning from industry. The experienced students were experimenting with new,

innovative and inexpensive materials (Such as Cellophane) and creating prototypes

22
Journal Article. Textile- Cloth and Culture. Allegra, Indira (2022) Unspooling Die Gramgewinde :
Writing with Gunta Stölzl on Grief-threads and Grief-Portals
23
The Bauhaus-Masters and Students by themselves. Edited by Whitford, Frank
Publisher: Conran Octopus ltd, 37 Sheldon Street, London, WC2h 9HN. 1992 Pg.182

7
for industry (See Fig. 15). Singular, artistic works were also created without the

distractions of the training lessons of new students. (See Fig. 16). The new course

Stölzl created incorporated more advanced training, including dyeing and textile

science,24 with a new Dye-Haus created. Students took classes on mathematics and

geometry which became essential, as precise and technically perfect work was

demanded from the new architectural department which opened in 1927.25

Students were also trained in theory and practiced on mechanical looms for

manufacture. (See Fig. 17 – Fig. 20)

In May 1928 Stölzl met Arieh Sharon at the International Architectural Congress in

Moscow. A former Bauhaus Student, and architect, Sharon was also a Jew who had

lived 6 years in Palestine. In August they were married and Stölzl was forced to give

up her German nationality for Palestinian citizenship.26 In October their daughter

Yael was born. This was a hard time for Stölzl as Sharon was away during the weeks

on a job commissioned by the new Director of Bauhaus, Meyer, Hans (1889-1954).

Mother, Master and married, Stölzl’s daughter Yael was often sleeping and feeding

on the balcony of the weaving workshop. Meyer who was considered a ‘red’ and was

dismissed, while Sharon also lost his job by association.27 Life became more difficult

24
Bauhaus. Edited by Fiedler, Jeanine and Feierabend, Peter. Publisher: Könemann
Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Cologne. 1999 Pg.473
25
Bauhaus Women. A Global Perspective. Otto, Elizabeth and Rössler, Patrick. Publisher: Bloomsbury
publishing plc, 50 Bedford Sq., WC1B 3DP, U.K. 2019 pg.25

26
Bauhaus Women. Art. Handicraft. Design. Müller, Ulrike. Publisher: Flammarion, S.A., Paris 2009.
Pg 48
27
Bauhaus Women. A Global Perspective. Otto, Elizabeth and R枚ssler, Patrick.聽 Publisher:
Bloomsbury publishing plc, 50 Bedford Sq, WC1B 3DP, U.K. 2019

8
for Stölzl and Bauhaus with its Marxist philosophies became wholly unacceptable to

the expanding, powerful Nazi regime in 1930’s Germany.

Internal antagonisms of political leanings began exploding throughout Bauhaus.

Jealousies, and hunger for power emulating from the students and an overloaded

schedule bore heavily on Stölzl who had little time for her own creativity now.

Three students in the weaving workshop pitched a campaign against Stölzl in

vulnerable state, and with so many friends and colleagues resigned, there was little

support. Fear had created a deafening, lonely silence. Facing legal slander, threat of

dismissal and then having a swastika painted on her door, Stölzl resigned in 1931

from Bauhaus, another victim of rising political dissonance permeating the

atmosphere both inside and outside of Bauhaus. Soon after, Bauhaus was forced to

move.

A small number of masters and students continued from Dessau,(See fig. 13) and

aiming for an apolitical atmosphere under the new Directorship of Van Der Rhos,

Mies (1946-1951), moved to an abandoned telephone factory in Berlin. However

great a testament to artistic determination they did not survive long. Rather than be

used for Nazi propaganda Bauhaus honourably closed its doors for good in 1933.

There were a number of Bauhaus weavers, extraordinarily talented women who

were, amongst other students and faculty members, arrested by the Nazi’s, with 6

members of the weaving workshops being murdered in concentration camps. 28

28
Bauhaus Women. Art. Handicraft. Design. Müller, Ulrike. Publisher: Flammarion, S.A., Paris 2009.
Pg 13

9
Many fled Germany, spreading the Bauhaus philosophies of design throughout the

world.

Stölzl herself, was always in a precarious position as a mother, without permanent

residence in Zurich she courageously founded a hand-weaving mill with two Bauhaus

colleagues, producing prototypes for industry and singular objects for architects. The

mill, S-P-H Stoffe, was closed after just two years after Gropius referred their largest

customer to another Bauhäusler, Berger, Otti (1898-1944). (See Fig.21-25)

These were years of great struggle to remain in Switzerland and support her

daughter Yael, though she was always grateful to her host country.. In 1945 Stölzl

remarried to Willy Stadler, becoming a Swiss citizen and had a second daughter,

Monika. Eventually recognised for her pioneering innovation, immense skills,

artistic strength and contribution to art and industry around a similar time that

Bauhaus at last received tribute from Germany. Stölzl continued to weave

tapestries, selling to museums until her death in Switzerland in 1983.29 Very few

examples of her work has either survived or been recovered.

29
Bauhaus Textiles: Women artists of the weaving workshop. Weltge, Singrid Wortman. Publisher: Thames and
Hudson Ltd, London. 1993 Pg.121

10
Images:-

Figure 1-Stölzl, Gunta. Dessau Bauhaus. 1927-1928

Image from Bauhaus Women: A Global perspective

Figure 2 (1924). Timetable, Preliminary (Vorkus) Weimer. Retrieved

from https://library-artstor-
org.cit.idm.oclc.org/asset/ARTSTOR_103_41822001641057

Figure 3- Albrecht Heubner Studies in

Composition. Given: Seven Bars of Equal Size
(From Joost Schmidt's Bauhaus Design Course)
1930–1933 Acquired through Gropius, Walter.
Object # SC55.1977.3 – https://Moma..org

11
Figure 4 -Stölzl, Gunta. Untitled 1920. Watercolour, pen-and-ink, and
opaque white over pencil. Image from Bauhaus Women: A Global
perspective

12
Figure 5 – Stölz textile Design / Bauhaus Weimar – about 1923 / 26.8 x 19.2 cm

Figure 6 - Knotted Floor Carpet – Detail / Wool on hemp weft / Woven for the first Bauhaus
exhibition in 1923 / Intended for serial production – originally 600 x 100cm

13
Figure 7- (c.1915). Weimar Weaving workshop Interior view. Retrieved from https://library-
artsor-org.cit.idm.oclc.org/asset/ARTSTOR_103_41822001640620

14
Figure 8 -Celebrating the first Diplomas of the Weaving workshop 1929. Image from
Bauhaus Women. Art.Handicraft. Design

15
 Figure 9- The Currency became worthless with kids
using it like lego bricks. From Website:
rarehistoricalphotos.com/hyperinflation-weimar-
republic-1922. ( A Newspaper cost 50 billion Marks
in 1923)

Figure 10 - The aluminium tag with the logo BAUHAUS DESSAU was affixed to all fabrics
leaving the Dessau Weaving Workshop. From Bauhaus. Edited by Fiedler, Jeanine and
Feierabend, Peter. Publisher: Könemann Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Cologne. 1999

16
Figure 11- The Weaving class at the loom. 1928, From the portfolio '9 jahre
bauhaus. eine chronik' (9 years of Bauhaus, a chronicle.) Collage. Artist
unknown. Photograph by T.Lux Feininger, photomontage with pull out
photographs on tabs, mounted on blue.

17
 Figure 12 - Wall Hanging. Stölzl, Gunta- Slit Tapestry
Red/Green 1927/28 Image source. Gunta Stölzl foundation

Figure 13 - (1919-33). Diagram of Who Was Teaching at Bauhaus. Retrieved from

https://library-artstor-org.cit.idm.oclc.org/asset/ARTSTOR_103_41822001641040

18
Figure 14 - Bauhaus masters on the roof of the Bauhaus in Dessau, on the occasion of ots opening on Decmber 5th 1926. From left:
Joseph Albers, Hinnerk Scheper, Georg Muche, László Moholy-Nagy, Herbert Bayer, Joost Schmidt, Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer,
Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Lyonel Feininger, Gunta Stölzl, and Oscar Schlemmer.

19
Figure 15 – Abers, Anni. ribbed silvery material is an excellent example of a structural fabric.
Woven on a cotton warp with a cellophane front for increased light reflections and a chenille
back for sound absorption. It was tested and photographed by the Zeiss Ikon company in
October 1929.
Image source: Bauhaus. Edited by Fiedler, Jeanine and Feierabend, Peter. Publisher:
KÖnemann Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Cologne. 1999

20
 Figure 16 – Stölzl, Gunta. Design for
a Jacquard Woven Wall Hanging /
Bauhaus Dessau – 1927 / 23 x 16 cm
Image source: Bauhaus Women. Art.
Handicraft. Design. Müller, Ulrike.
Publisher: Flammarion, S.A., Paris
2009.

Figure 17 - Gunta Stölzl, (Artist), Swiss, born Germany.

(Design date: 1932). Rumba Upholstery Material.
[Design Objects]. Retrieved from https://library-artstor-
org.cit.idm.oclc.org/asset/MOMA_12740005

Figure 18 - Detail of Figure 17. Jute, silk boucle yarn, and wool

21
 Figure 19 - Gunta Stölzl, (Artist), Swiss, born Germany. 1897-
1983. (Design date: 1932). Rumba Upholstery Material.
[Design Objects]. Retrieved from https://library-artstor-
org.cit.idm.oclc.org/asset/MOMA_12740002

Figure 20- Detail of figure 19. Jute, silk boucle yarn, and
wood

Figure 21. Fashion or furnishing fabrics. Samples with patterns on graph paper.1940's Image
Source: https://www.guntastolzl.org/Works/Workshop-Zurich-1931-1967/Fabrics

22
Figure 22. Upholstery Fabrics, Samples. 1940's Image Source.
https://www.guntastolzl.org/Works/Workshop-Zurich-1931-1967/Fabrics

23
Figure 23 - Upholstry Fabric. 1940's Image Source:
https://www.guntastolzl.org/Works/Workshop-Zurich-1931-1967/Fabrics

Figure 24 - Decorative Fabric Mohair Image Source.

https://www.guntastolzl.org/Works/Workshop-Zurich-1931-1967/Fabrics

24
Figure 25 - Tablecloth - Detail. Honeycomb-weave. No. 111. 80cm x 80cm. Sfr.70 1964 Image
Source: https://www.guntastolzl.org/Works/Workshop-Zurich-1931-1967/Fabrics

Biliography:

Books:

Bauhaus. Edited by Fiedler, Jeanine and Feierabend, Peter. Publisher: Könemann

Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Cologne. 1999

Bauhaus Women. A Global Perspective. Otto, Elizabeth and Rössler, Patrick.

Publisher: Bloomsbury publishing plc, 50 Bedford Sq, WC1B 3DP, U.K. 2019

Bauhaus Women. Art. Handicraft. Design. Müller, Ulrike. Publisher: Flammarion,

S.A., Paris 2009. Pg 13

Bauhaus Textiles: Women artists of the weaving workshop. Weltge, Singrid

Wortman. Publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd, London. 1993

The ABC’s of Bauhaus and Design Theory. Edited by Lupton, Emma and Miller, J.
Abbot. Published by Thames and Hudson.

25
The Bauhaus-Masters and Students by themselves. Edited by Whitford, Frank
Publisher: Conran Octopus ltd, 37 Sheldon Street, London, WC2h 9HN. 1992

The Bauhaus Reassessed. Sources and design theory. Naylor, Gillian. Publisher:
Herbert Press Ltd. 46 Northchurch Rd, London. 1985

The Story of Art, Without Men. Hessel, Katy. Publisher: Hutchinson Heinemann
2022. Pg.167

Journals:
Textile- Cloth and Culture. Allegra, Indira (2022) Unspooling Die Gramgewinde :
Writing with Gunta Stölzl on Grief-threads and Grief-Portals, TEXTILE, 20:4, 506-523,
DOI:10.1080/14759756.2021.1908732

Webpages:
https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/hyperinflation-weimar-republic-1922/ Accessed
20/10/22

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HWDWr1RKe8 Bauhaus- Art as life: A

Daughter’s perspective. Stadler, Monika. Accessed 18/10/22

https://doi.org/101080/14759756.2021.1908732 Accessed 15/10/22

https://www.guntastolzl.org/Works/Bauhaus-Dessau-1925-1931/Wall-Hangings/i-
4h4SxCp
Accessed 20/10/22

https://www.moma.org/collection/works/154321?artist_id=8099&page=1&sov_refe
rrer=artist Accessed 12/10/22

https://www.guntastolzl.org/About/Biography/ Accessed 21/10/22

https://www.bauhauskooperation.com/knowledge/the-
bauhaus/people/biography/565/ Accessed 21/10/22

26