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Bauhaus Movement Facts & Worksheets

The Bauhaus was a significant art and design movement in 1919 in Weimar, Germany.

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The Bauhaus was a significant art and design movement in 1919 in Weimar, Germany. The Bauhaus Movement promoted a geometric, abstract style with minimal expression or emotion and no historical references, and its aesthetic has influenced architects, designers, and painters to this day.

See the fact file below for more information on the Bauhaus Movement, or you can download our 28-page Bauhaus Movement worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

ARCHITECT WALTER GROPIUS

  • The Weimar school of architecture, created in 1919 by architect Walter Gropius, was inspired by Expressionist painting as well as the work of architect Frank Lloyd Wright and designer William Morris. Its designers envisioned bringing together artists and crafters for a utopian cause.
  • The Bauhaus movement, led by Walter Gropius, established no difference between practical and artistic arts. Painting, typography, architecture, textile design, furniture making, theatrical design, stained glass, woodworking, and metallurgy were all represented.
  • The Bauhaus architectural style used hard angles of glass, brick, and steel to create patterns, resulting in structures that some historians describe as seeming like no human hand was involved in their development. 
  • These austere aesthetics valued practicality and mass manufacture, and they were significant in the global redesign of daily structures that made no reference to class structure or hierarchy.
  • Gropius continued as director for nine years, guiding the Bauhaus school toward the development of a coherent style, which was not his initial aim. 
  • Gropius managed the school’s relocation to Dessau beginning in 1925, allowing the Bauhaus ideals to emerge in the school’s physical setting.
  • Gropius designed the Bauhaus Building, as well as numerous other structures for the new campus.
  • Fine art became a significant feature at the school in 1927 when Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky provided a free painting lesson. Instruction centered on abstraction rather than utility (as with many Bauhaus programs). 
  • Expressionism and Futurism would have a considerable effect on the school’s art, as would its distinct style of geometric design, which at times resembled Cubism.

BAUHAUS EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION IN THREE CITIES

  • Bauhaus functioned as an educational institution in three cities: Weimar (1919 to 1925), Dessau (1925 to 1932), and Berlin (1933 to 1945). (1932 to 1933).
  • WEIMER: Weimar, also known as the State Bauhaus in Weimar, was where Gropius created the framework for Bauhaus to follow; it was here that he developed principles that were deemed futuristic at the time. 
  • According to his philosophy and the program, art should have a societal function, and craft-based disciplines should no longer be separated.
  • The “stage workshop” was a key aspect of the curriculum at Weimar. Lothar Schreyer directed it from 1921 to 1923, and Oskar Schlemmer directed it from 1923 to 1925. It combined visual and performing arts and emphasized an interdisciplinary approach.
  • DESSAU: During the Bauhaus era, Dessau was considered a hotspot. It developed following the politically induced demise of Weimar. 
  • During this time, it began developing new industrial items for widespread use. (Most of the well-known items and designs originated in Dessau.) Gropius also designed and erected the famed Bauhaus Building here.
  • Hannes Meyer, a Swiss architect, was Dessau’s second director, and his design philosophy was: “1. life of sex, 2. sleeping patterns, 3. pets, 4. gardening, 5. personal hygiene, 6. weatherproofing, 7. household hygiene, 8. auto upkeep, 9. cooking, 10. heating, 11. sun exposure, and 12. services. These are the only incentives for building a house.
  • We study everyone’s daily activity in the house, which results in the functional diagram – the functional diagram and the economic program are the deciding principles of the building project.” This Bauhaus version was terminated on September 30, 1932.
  • BERLIN: Bauhaus’ last phase was in Berlin. Due to rising Nazi demands and financial cuts, there was little work done during this period. Following the collapse of Dessau, 
  • Bauhaus masters and students reconvened in Berlin in October 1932 at an abandoned telephone factory. 
  • However, on April 11, 1933, the police and SA searched and shuttered the property.
  • The Bauhaus was closed down by the teaching staff in July 1933. Despite facing permanent closure, the school’s impact and style remained, culminating in the Bauhaus movement.

FAMOUS BAUHAUS ARTISTS

  • Paul Klee: In 1920, Paul Klee joined the faculty, bringing with him concern with the art and artistic processes of non-Western cultures and children, which he combined with a geometric, often scientific approach to abstract painting. 
  • During his time at the Bauhaus, he produced works celebrated for their lyricism and wit, such as his 1922 painting Dance Monster, to My Soft Song!
  • Klee graduated from the Bauhaus in 1931 and died in 1940. Klee had a huge influence on the work of surrealist artists Joan Miró and Andre Masson.
  • Kandinsky, Wassily: a painter, began teaching in 1922. Kandinsky abandoned representational art in favor of what he viewed as the spiritual aspects of color and shape.
  • Kandinsky’s art became more concentrated on abstract shapes and lines during his stint at Bauhaus, as shown in his 1923 painting Composition VIII, and he remained with the school until its closure.
  • Moholy-Nagy, László: a Hungarian artist, arrived at the school in 1923 to teach basic lessons and oversee a metal workshop, but his true interest was photography.
  • Moholy-Nagy was recognized for darkroom experiments, using photograms and investigating light to produce abstract components through distortion, shadow, and crooked lines, akin to yet distinct from Man Ray’s works.
  • Moholy-Nagy also made sculptures, such as his “light modulators,” which are kinetic light and motion devices, as well as abstract, geometrical paintings.
  • Schlemmer, Oskar: From 1920 until 1929, Oskar Schlemmer taught at the school, concentrating on design, sculpting, and murals but choosing to pursue theater. In 1923, he was named head of theatrical activities at the school, and in 1925, he founded an experimental theater workshop.
  • Schlemmer was noted for focusing on the human body in all of his fields. Schlemmer converted his dancers into kinetic sculptures in 1922’s The Triadic Ballet by clothing them in geometric forms composed of metal, cardboard, and wood.
  • Albers, Josef: During his tenure at the Bauhaus, Josef Albers was most known for his glass images, which he created in 1928 using glass pieces. 
  • To produce a luminous surface, he sandblasted the glass, painted it in thin layers, and baked it in a kiln. City, a glass painting from 1928, is his most renowned Bauhaus work.
  • Albers was assigned to the teaching staff before completing his courses at the institution in 1923. He started in the glass painting class and then moved on to teach furniture design, sketching, and lettering.
  • Ludwig Mies van der Rohe: Hannes Mayer, a Swiss architect, took over from Gropius in 1928, but his tenure was problematic, with student-teacher ratios becoming a major issue for the school and several disagreements with Communist students and anti-Communist staff members. He was fired in 1930.
  • When Gropius appointed Ludwig Mies van der Rohe as school director the same year, he was regarded as the best architect in Germany.
  • The institution moved under his guidance through a fight for survival with Germany’s ever-invading National Socialist Party, whose intervention requested that experimental work be toned down as it assumed control of the school.

CHARACTERISTICS OF BAUHAUS DESIGN

  • Combining art, craft, and mass manufacturing: Walter Gropius stated the school’s purpose as “establish a new guild of artisans, without the social divisions which build an arrogant barrier between craftsman and artist.”
  • This essentially meant that craft tradition was fused with contemporary technology in order to meet the requirements of the mass-production system, an idea that was both feasible and required in order to rebuild the country.
  • Function comes before form: The classic saying “form follows function” was coined by the American architect Louis Sullivan. This simple remark became one of Bauhaus’ key ideals. 
  • It indicates that a form should always be employed for its purpose rather than its aesthetic appeal in design. The excessive decoration was avoided in order to prioritize usefulness.
  • True materials: Materials, according to Bauhaus professors, should represent the fundamental essence of objects and buildings. 
  • This meant that the Bauhaus school trained its pupils not to alter or conceal elements for the purpose of beauty.
  • The construction of an object or structure was not hidden but rather integrated into the design.
  • Minimalism: Bauhaus art, architecture, and design expressed these concepts of utility and honest materials. Bauhaus painters preferred linear and mathematical forms over flowery or curving shapes, influenced by movements such as Modernism and De Stijl, and as a counter-movement to the Art Deco and Art Nouveau styles. Only line, form, and color were important. Everything else was unneeded and should be reduced. 
  • Artwork as a whole: The concept of the ‘Gesamtkunstwerk,’ or synthesis of many creative forms via building, is central to Bauhaus. A building was not merely a shell for the Bauhaus school; it was one component of the entire design, and everything within contributed to the overarching concept.

END OF BAUHAUS

  • In response to Nazi interference in the school, Mies van der Rohe relocated it to an old telephone factory in Berlin and designated it as a private institution. However, the Nazis continued to harass the institution, denouncing what they saw as Soviet Communist philosophy and demanding that Nazi supporters replace some staff members.
  • The faculty explicitly refused to engage with the Nazis, and rather than cooperating with them, the faculty chose to close the university in 1933.
  • Following this choice, Mies van der Rohe, Gropius, the Albers, and many other Bauhaus members relocated to America, where they had a profound and long-lasting impact on twentieth-century art and design.

BAUHAUS LEGACY

  • Today, Bauhaus is widely regarded as a catalyst for modern architecture and furniture, as well as a significant impact on mid-century painting and sculpture. 
  • Some buildings, such as the UNESCO World Heritage Site Bauhaus Dessau, have been converted into tourist sites and house museums, while many major contemporary art museums integrate works of art into their permanent collections and popular exhibitions.

Bauhaus Movement Worksheets

This fantastic bundle includes everything you need to know about the Bauhaus Movement across 28 in-depth pages. These ready-to-use worksheets are perfect for teaching kids about the Bauhaus Movement. The Bauhaus was a significant art and design movement in 1919 in Weimar, Germany.

Bauhaus Movement Worksheets
Bauhaus Movement Worksheets
Bauhaus Movement Worksheets

Complete List of Included Worksheets

Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document.

  1. Bauhaus Facts
  2. You Know the Answer
  3. One Pic You Name It
  4. Let”s Characterize
  5. The Creative Mind
  6. More Than Just a Picture
  7. The Ending
  8. Three Cities One Institution
  9. Who’s That Artist
  10. Watch And Learn
  11. Share Your Talent

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the Bauhaus Movement?

The Bauhaus Movement was a German art and design school active from 1919 to 1933 that had a profound influence on modern architecture, design, and art. The school aimed to bridge the gap between fine art and industrial design and advocated for a holistic approach to design and architecture, where form and function were equal and interdependent.

Who founded the Bauhaus Movement?

The Bauhaus Movement was founded by the German architect Walter Gropius in 1919. He envisioned a school that combined the teachings of traditional crafts and the principles of modern technology and design to produce a new type of designer and artist.

What was the main philosophy of the Bauhaus Movement?

The main philosophy of the Bauhaus Movement was the idea that form should follow function. This means that the design of an object should be determined by its intended purpose and use rather than by traditional aesthetic ideals. The Bauhaus artists and designers sought to create functional and efficient products that were also aesthetically pleasing.

What kind of impact did the Bauhaus Movement have on design and architecture?

The Bauhaus Movement had a profound impact on design and architecture, both during its time and in the decades following its closure. Its ideas and methods have influenced numerous design movements, including the International Style, and continue to shape design and architecture today. The Bauhaus principles of functionalism and simplicity can be seen in many of the products and buildings we use and see every day.

What happened to the Bauhaus Movement?

The Bauhaus Movement was closed by the Nazi regime in 1933 due to its perceived association with Communist and Bolshevik ideals. Many of its teachers and students emigrated to other countries, where they continued to spread the Bauhaus philosophy and influence design and architecture. The ideas and methods developed at the Bauhaus have continued to shape design and architecture, and the school is now widely recognized as one of the most important and influential design movements of the 20th century.

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Use With Any Curriculum

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