The Bauhaus Group: Six masters of modernism by Nicholas Fox Weber

Last fall, during Global Gathering Germany, architect Christopher Wegscheid gave a talk on the history of the Bauhaus school of Germany.  While it’s not something I would have normally gone to, I arranged for the talk and I personally know Christopher.  I knew it would be an entertaining presentation, regardless of whether or not I had an interest in the subject.

Well, I was right.  It was fascinating.  And so when I saw a review for The Bauhaus Group: Six master of modernism by Nicholas Fox Weber, I had to read it.  I have to tell you, it took me weeks to finish it, but I’m glad it did.

The Bauhaus was born, lived and died during such a tumultuous period of Germany history that its mere existence holds interest for me.  I think Weber did a great job of conveying the ideals of the Bauhaus.  Ornament obscures; the beauty of an object lies in its form.  Industry and art are not mutually exclusive.  Appreciate anything that is very well-done; a well-played sport is preferable to a poorly-performed play.

The biographies of these six players (Walter Gropius, the founder of the Bauhaus, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, Josef and Anni Albers, and Mies van der Rohe) are rife with drama, politics, brilliance, pettiness, and, always, a love of art and creativity.  They make for riveting reading.  What made this such a long haul for me, however, was the extensive discussion of art theory.  Of course, that’s to be expected in a book of this type.  It’s just not something my brain wraps itself around easily.

What I was less enthusiastic about was how often Weber inserted himself into the biographies.  Most especially his coverage of Josef and Anni Albers, whom he knew personally and of whose Foundation he is now the director, was less a recounting of their time at the Bauhaus and more of their time with Weber himself.

Nonetheless, while I still cannot say that I’m a huge fan of modernism, I have a new appreciation for the Bauhaus ideals, and, I hope, will make more of an effort to see the beauty in the natural form of everything around me, as the true Bauhauslers did.