Bauhausmadels. A Tribute to Pioneering Women Artists

Meet trailblazers like Marianne Brandt, Gertrud Arndt, and Lucia Moholy in Bauhausmädels—or “Bauhausgirls”, a term that expressed admiration for the young women who bravely eluded traditional gender roles to build a different future. With never-before-seen portraitsand biographies, this is a unique celebration of the Bauhaus centennial and a long-overdue tributeto the school’s women artists.Celebrating the centennial of a groundbreaking School of Art and Design, this volume marks the founding of the Bauhauswith a visual exploration of its most underrated members. While the institution provided women with new opportunities in education, along the way, they were faced with unreasonable family expectations, the ambiguous attitude of the faculty and administration, outdated social conventions, and, ultimately, the political repression of the Nazi regime.Unprecedented in current literature, Bauhausmädelspresents 87 artists and artisansthrough texts and photographic portraits, manypublished for the very first time. Recent archival discoveriesrevive the biographies of better-known talents. In the 1920s, the title “Bauhaus girl” expressed a silent admiration for the young women whocourageously eluded traditional gender roles to build a different, creative future. These includeMarianne Brandt, the first woman to be admitted to the Bauhaus metalworking program whose designs are used by Alessi to this day, Gertrud Arndt who, dissuaded by the faculty from studying architecture, instead shone through her photography and rug design, and Lucia Moholy, who photographed the Bauhaus buildings in iconic shots, but spent the rest of her life trying to retrieve the negatives which were withheld from her. Moreover, the volume reminds us of other women artists whose names, nearly forgotten, also stand for early pioneers of gender equality, refusing to follow the beaten tracks society and their families insisted on.With almost 400 portrait photographstaken between 1919 and 1933, Bauhausmädelscreates a visual impression of the women artists who attended the most progressive art school of the 20th centuryand, departing from there, often changed the world of art, architecture, design, and even politics. Biographical datasheds light on each artist’s individual struggle, persistence in the face of adversity, and incredible accomplishments. In this grand family album, we discover a group of unique trailblazers whose legacy paved the way for women artists after them.The author Patrick Rösslerteaches Communication Science at the University of Erfurt. His main focus is on visual communication from a historical viewpoint, and he has curated several exhibitions on the Bauhaus, including Die neue Linie 1929 – 1943. Das Bauhaus am Kioskund Herbert Bayer: Die Berliner Jahre - Werbegrafik 1928-1938. To mark Bauhaus Year 2019, he is publishing, among others, Bauhaus Bodiesand New Typographies. Bauhaus &,amp, Beyond: 100 Years of Functional Graphic Design.