Prism break: a new glass exhibition celebrates the Bauhaus colour wheel
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

Swiss expressionist painter, designer and theorist Johannes Itten (1888–1967) once said, ‘He who wishes to become a master of colour must see, feel, and experience each individual colour in its endless combinations with all other colours.’ He was among the first to identify contrasts and develop harmonious colour strategies. In 1919, Itten joined the Bauhaus faculty (then based in Weimar) at the behest of Walter Gropius, where he developed his pioneering ‘colour sphere’ – now the basis for many other schematics.
So to Lausanne, where a recently launched exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Design and Applied Arts (MUDAC) pays tribute to Itten’s colour wheel with a vibrant crop of glass works by the likes of Gaetano Pesce, Tobias Rehberger, Salvador Dalí and more. Entitled ‘Chromatic’, the show explores the realm of colour from three different viewpoints: the scientific, the sensory and the playful.
The focus on glass is a deliberate nod to its prismatic qualities, and the show demonstrates the material’s flexibility with an array of pieces that span the startling to the simply beautiful. MUDAC’s conservation department has sourced the works from different realms of the glass world, honing in on sculptural one-off pieces, contemporary artworks and finally the design field, encompassing lighting fixtures, mirrors and vases.
Highlights in the show include Basel-based Matteo Gonet, Valérie Jacquemet and Jodoc Elmiger’s Giant Marble creations – now part of MUDAC’s permanent collection – and Maurice Ruche’s architectural cube. The works have been arranged rather pleasingly by hue – another nod to Itten’s colour wheel.
Itten’s time at Bauhaus was brief and, dare we say it, colourful. He insisted on crimson robes, shaved heads and colonic irrigation, and his nonconformist demeanour found itself increasingly at odds with Gropius’ conservative rationalism. He was eventually fired in 1923. Nonetheless, Itten paved the way for one of Bauhaus’ most prominent students and eventual teacher: Josef Albers. Itten may have caused discord at the German school, but there is nothing but harmony to found in ‘Chromatic’, a worthwhile tribute to the father of Bauhaus colour theory.
The show explores the realm of colour from three different viewpoints: the scientific, the sensory and the playful
MUDAC’s conservation department has sourced the works from different realms of the glass world, honing in on sculptural one-off pieces, contemporary artworks and the design field. Pictured: Hommage à Johannes Itten, by Camille Jacobs, 2011.
Mat cylinder with floating sun, by Tora Urup, 2014
Cube Architecturé, by Maurice Ruche, 1975
Installation view of 'Chromatic' at MUDAC, including Matteo Gonet's Giant Marble pieces (pictured in foreground), which have now been added to the museum's permanent collection
Coupe Rouge, by Frantisek Vizner, 1997
Blaue Pyramide, by Marian Karel, 1986
Yellow Magic, by Gernot Schluifer, 1988–1989
Gelbe Stela, by Lubomir Artzt, 1988
Unterbrochener Zirkel, by Milan Handl, 1988
The focus on glass is a deliberate nod to its prismatic qualities
The show demonstrates the material’s flexibility with an array of pieces that span the startling to the simply beautiful
INFORMATION
‘Chromatic’ is on view until 24 September 2017. For more information, visit the MUDAC website (opens in new tab)
ADDRESS
MUDAC
Place de la Cathédrale 6
1005 Lausanne
-
‘A crossover of ideas and emotion’: Simone Rocha on introducing menswear to her label
As the collection arrives at London’s Dover Street Market with a special installation and zine, Simone Rocha speaks about the roots of the menswear offering, the art of collaboration, and a campaign which subverts ‘the archetypes of masculinity’
By Jack Moss • Published
-
Colour Clash is a bold compendium of dazzling supergraphics and logos that pop
Polychromatic perversity in graphic design is celebrated in Colour Clash, a monograph that looks at the new wave of visual expression
By Jonathan Bell • Published
-
Beacon House is the contemporary rebirth of a midcentury San Francisco home
Beacon House by Edmonds + Lee Architecture is a renovation project that sensitively brings a modernist San Francisco home into the 21st century
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
The most surreal moments in Art Basel history, from taped bananas to wealth-ranking ATMs
As a wealth-ranking ATM stole hearts and headlines at Art Basel Miami 2022, we look back on the most controversial moments in the history of Art Basel
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith • Published
-
Artist Julianknxx on poetry, dreams and Switzerland
Ahead of the New York showing of his major new film with Switzerland Tourism, we visit the studio of London-based poet and filmmaker Julianknxx
By Jessica Klingelfuss • Last updated
-
Jenny Holzer curates Louise Bourgeois: ‘She was infinite’
The inimitable work of Louise Bourgeois is seen through the eyes of Jenny Holzer in this potent meeting of minds at Kunstmuseum Basel
By Amah-Rose Abrams • Last updated
-
‘A Show About Nothing’: group exhibition in Hangzhou celebrates emptiness
The inaugural exhibition at new Hangzhou cultural centre By Art Matters explores ‘nothingness’ through 30 local and international artists, including Maurizio Cattelan, Ghislaine Leung, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Liu Guoqiang and Yoko Ono
By Yoko Choy • Last updated
-
Biennale de l’Image en Mouvement: radical reflections on surreal times
At Centre d’Art Contemporain, Geneva, the Biennale de l’Image en Mouvement 2021 kicks off with group show ‘A Goodbye Letter, A Love Call, A Wake Up Song’, a full house of subversive moving image commissions
By Amah-Rose Abrams • Last updated
-
Christian Marclay tells a tale of two museums in Lausanne’s new arts district
The Swiss-American artist inaugurates the future home of Photo Elysée and Mudac with Déballage, a pair of immersive installations celebrating their collections
By Jessica Klingelfuss • Last updated
-
La Prairie and Maotik plunge us into the twilight zone at Art Basel and Frieze London
La Prairie celebrates the launch of its Skin Caviar Nighttime Oil with a digital installation offering an entrancing trip into the twilight zone at Art Basel and Frieze London
By Mary Cleary • Last updated
-
Art Basel 2021: a guide to the fair and art in the city
At long last, Art Basel is about to get physical once again. Running from 24 – 26 September 2021 at Messe Basel, the fair promises a radical mix of new commissions and iconic works. Here's a preview of what to see at the fair, and around the city
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith • Last updated