The Bauhaus

COURSE:                     Diploma Visual Arts

PROGRAM:             Art History & Theory

UNITS:                     CUVRES502A  Analyse Cultural History and Theory (GRADED)

STUDENT NAME:
You must type and print your completed worksheet and submit with a cover sheet by the due date.

The Bauhaus – Research Worksheet

1. The two chairs below are from different art movements. Chair A is Art Nouveau and chair B is from the Bauhaus school of Design. Underneath the Bauhaus designed chair, describe how it differs from the Art Nouveau chair.

A: Armchair, ca. 1905. Designer: Henri-Jules-Ferdinand Bellery-Desfontaines (French, 1867–1910)

Chair A:

• Complex in design
• Art and decoration more important than comfort
• Ornate & highly detailed carving
• Quality & expensive materials
• Traditional materials used
•  Manufactured through traditional craftsmanship / skills
• Costly to manufacture (hand made)

B: Marcel Breuer, ‘Cesca’, 1928. Tubular Steel & Wicker (Cane) Stackable chair

Chair B Your answer:

•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  

·       

2. Name the three men who directed the Bauhaus at various times:  

1.  
2.  
3.  

3. Name the locations the Bauhaus operated from and the years. 

1.  
2.  
3.  
4.  

4. Name each ‘workshop’ area of the Bauhaus: (at least 5)

1.  
2.  
3.  
4.  
5.  
6.  
7.  
8.  
9.  
10. 
    

5. In the space below paste a visual example (image) of designed products and/or artwork from 4 major workshop areas and annotate each of them. (title, artist / designers, date, materials)

1.  
2.  
3.  
4. 
   

6. How did the Bauhaus change the designers’ approach to product design compared to previous movements such as Art Nouveau? (use one annotated example from both Art Nouveau and the Bauhaus school to illustrate your answer).

These phrases may help you:

Combination of simplicity, function and aesthetics; breaking down the boundaries of design; moving away from the traditional skills; new materials applied to products; new manufacturing and production techniques; manufacture on an industrial scale.

Annotated example: Art Nouveau

Annotated example: Bauhaus

Your answer & comparison

7. Today we can look to our own environment to witness how the Bauhaus radically changed the western approach to design. Many designed objects in your life originated from the Bauhaus school and there are many copies. (if you are using the internet to research often it is difficult to know if you have found the genuine Bauhaus original design.) 

Find and photograph items similar to the ones pictured below and paste them in the space provided. *you must take your own photos in your own environment to pass this question; complete as much of the annotation about the object as you can.

BAUHAUS DESIGN	YOUR ORIGINAL PHOTOS FROM YOUR ENVIRONMENT & DESCRTIPTION
1. Door Handles, Walter Gropius & Adolf Meyer, 1922, Nickel Plated brass. Manufacturer: S.A. Loevy, Berlin, Germany	What it is: Location: Medium: Date:
2. Kandem Bedside Table Lamp, Marianne Brandt, 1928	What it is: Location: Medium: Date:
3. Table Clock, Marianne Brandt, 1930	What it is: Location: Medium: Date:
4. Furniture Barcelona Chair, Mies van der Rohe, 1929 OR  Nesting Tables (model B9), Marcel Breuer, 1925-26, Chrome-plated tubular steel and lacquered plywood	What it is: Location: Medium: Date:
5. Architecture (international style) The Villa Savoye, Le Corbusier, 1931	What it is: Location: Medium: Date:
6. other (can you find another object or image?)	What it is: Location: Medium: Date:

8. Write down the main ideals and aims of the Bauhaus.

•  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

9. Discuss the ways in which the ideals of the Bauhaus are reflected in a Bauhaus design object. (Use one example of design, architecture or artwork created at the Bauhaus. It can be one you have previously used in this worksheet). Paste the annotated image below with your answer.

10. What is the relationship between form and function in your chosen work in question 9? (Define form and function within your answer.)

11. Compile a Harvard style bibliography of at least 3 resources you have used to complete this worksheet.

*BONUS ACTIVITY*

For this activity you will need: a new piece of paper (A4 or A3), colour pencils, music.

Look at this painting by Kandinsky:  Circles in a Circle, Vasily Kandinsky, 1923, oil on canvas.

The painter Kandinsky believed art should conjure up in us an experience ‘beyond the reach of words’, rather than giving a picture of something that can be named or described. Through this he hoped to find a basic form of communication that speaks to us on a more primary level than words. For him, this kind of abstract art was an attempt to resist words and pictures and replace them with effects that worked directly on the body and the mind. He believed that the experience of sound, colour and shape were connected by sensation.

Activity: Listen to a piece of music and see if you can draw it. What shape is it? Does it have patterns and colours?  Using only a square, circle and rectangle,the primary colours plus black, draw a composition in response to your musical experience.