The trailblazing women of Bauhaus
The remarkable female artists at the heart of Bauhaus overcame the societal expectations of their time to become pioneers in their own right
![On the roof of the Atelierhaus, Dessau (Martha Erps with Ruth Hollós, left), circa 1927](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/jWJqqoioMc2VjdDH6FZBGn-415-80.jpg)
What makes a true Bauhaus girl? Contemporary, cheerful and cool, she has a self-confident, gung-ho attitude, a short bob, and a talent for the fine and applied arts. Or at least, that’s according to a groundbreaking three-page spread, published by Die Woche newspaper in January 1930 in a politically turbulent Germany. The article is illustrated with photographs of these newly emancipated Bauhaus women taken by ‘Lutz Feininger’ – 19-year-old T Lux Feininger, and the youngest son of German-American painter Lyonel Feininger, master printmaker at the Bauhaus school.
The female side of the Bauhaus story and the remarkable rise of the Bauhausmädel (‘Bauhaus girl’) is explored in depth in a new Taschen book, bringing together the lives of many women who shaped and disseminated their ideas, with little or no recognition in their day. (The captions for photographs illustrating the original article on the Bauhaus woman had been published anonymously, perhaps written by a woman, since women were not considered appropriate contributors to magazines at the time.)
Margaret Leiteritz with oranges, before 1930.
Among them is Ricarda Schwerin, an atheist who, aged 18, went to the Bauhaus to study photography. A few semesters in, she had to stop her studies due to poor health, and when she recovered the school refused to have her back. She wound up in Frankfurt am Main with her future husband and fellow Bauhaus student Heinz Schwerin who, like Schwerin, had been prevented from completing his studies (the school ejected most of its communist students in the spring of 1932). Soon after their vows in Hungary were sealed in 1935, the newlyweds fled to Palestine. Together they opened a wooden toy workshop; Schwerin later founded a nursery for refugee children. Only then did she go back to photography, working for two decades up until her death in 1999, aged 87.
Hers is just one among 87 women who attended the pioneering school of art and design, each of them unique, but facing similar societial expectations and political demands: the Nazi regime pressing down on them, forcing many to emigrate multiple times, and lose husbands to war. Other more famous names include Marianne Brandt, one of the first women to be admitted to the Bauhaus metalworking program, and whose designs continue to be produced by Alessi to this day.
RELATED STORY
The book does not brush over the ‘entirely problematic gender relations at the Bauhaus’, as author Patrick Rössler writes, ‘in particular with regard to the balance of power between masters and students’. As his introductory essay points out, despite its indisputable influence in the world and its inherently progressive ideals, the Bauhaus was shockingly archaic when it came to women. The tome bursts forth to right that wrong and put the Bauhaus women unequivocally back in their place, with their photographs – some of them sumptuous self-portraits – and biographies organised as a timeline of life events. For all of their achievements, many of their lives did not end well.
Bauhausmädels: A Tribute to Pioneering Women Artists, published by Taschen
Unfortunately, given the erasure of these women from history, there is no real documentation of their works, only portraits of the women, which after a while seems to put the emphasis on what they looked like, rather than the importance of their contributions to the Bauhaus and its legacy. Among the few works are a series of nude photographs by Lucia Moholy, irreverent, whimsical and free. Moholy’s took iconic photographs of the school’s teachers and of the new Bauhaus buildings, but the negatives were withheld by Walter Gropius and only eventually returned to her in 1959.
The ultimate lesson of the Bauhaus girl might come from that 1930 Die Woche article: ‘The Bauhaus girl knows what she wants and will make it anywhere’ – no matter who, or what, tries to hold her back.
Group photo in the weaving workshop, Dessau Bauhaus, 1928.
Ellen Rosenberg, the future photographer Ellen Auerbach, 1927-1928.
Hilde Hubbuch in the Haus der Rheinischen Heimat, Cologne, 1928.
Bauhaus student in a mask from the Triadic Ballet, circa 1927.
Albert Braun photographing Grit Kallin in the Atelierhaus, Dessau, 1928.
Self-portrait with camera of Lotte Beese (silhouette), 1927.
INFORMATION
Bauhausmädels: A Tribute to Pioneering Women Artists, £30, published by Taschen
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
Charlotte Jansen is a journalist and the author of two books on photography, Girl on Girl (2017) and Photography Now (2021). She is commissioning editor at Elephant magazine and has written on contemporary art and culture for The Guardian, the Financial Times, ELLE, the British Journal of Photography, Frieze and Artsy. Jansen is also presenter of Dior Talks podcast series, The Female Gaze.
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
The Mercury Prize nominees for 2024 have been revealed
Charli XCX, The Last Dinner Party and Beth Gibbons are amongst this year's nominees
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
Lucia Moholy’s retrospective captures her life's work behind the lens
‘Lucia Moholy: Exposures’ is an appraisal of a true virtuoso of 20th-century photography, opening at Kunsthalle Prague
By Finn Blythe Published
-
How the west won: Ivan McClellan is amplifying the intrepid beauty of Black cowboy culture
In his new book, 'Eight Seconds: Black Cowboy Culture', Ivan McClellan draws us into the world of Black rodeo. Wallpaper* meets the photographer ahead of his Juneteenth Rodeo
By Tracy Kawalik Published
-
‘Package Holiday 1968-1985’: a very British love affair in pictures
‘Package Holiday’ recalls tans, table tennis and Technicolor in Trevor Clark’s wistful snaps of sun-seeking Brits
By Caragh McKay Published
-
‘Art Exposed’: Julian Spalding on everything that’s wrong with the art world
In ‘Art Exposed’, Julian Spalding draws on his 40 years in the art world – as a museum director, curator, and critic – for his series of essays
By Alfred Tong Published
-
Marisol Mendez's ‘Madre’ unpicks the woven threads of Bolivian womanhood
From ancestry to protest, how Marisol Mendez’s 'Madre' is rewriting the narrative of Bolivian womanhood
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
-
Photo book explores the messy, magical mundanity of new motherhood
‘Sorry I Gave Birth I Disappeared But Now I’m Back’ by photographer Andi Galdi Vinko explores new motherhood in all its messy, beautiful reality
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Best contemporary art books: a guide for 2024
From maverick memoirs to topical tomes, turn over a new leaf with the Wallpaper* arts desk’s pick of new releases and all-time favourite art books
By Hannah Silver Last updated
-
The best photography books for your coffee table
Flick through, mull over and deep-dive into the best photography books on the market, from our shelves to you
By Sophie Gladstone Last updated