NYSID's Judith Gura on The Women of Bauhaus

Yesterday, NYSID held a CEU lecture at the D and D Building's Astra. She spoke about a hot topic this fall, Bauhaus.

Here is an excerpt from her fascinating discourse:

As the recent Museum of Modern Art exhibition reminded us, the Bauhaus was not a movement, or a style, but a school --- and one whose innovative approach to education, with a hands-on foundation course and workshops for specialized training, is still relevant more than 70 years later. Most of us are familiar with the names of men who taught or studied there, but we know much less about the women. Women, however, were an important part of the school – in fact, a majority of the students in its early years. And despite being pushed into what were thought of as lesser, “women’s-work” areas, many of them managed to do exceptional things – though only a few received the recognition they deserved. But that’s beginning to change, as the contributions of these women are finally being appreciated.

The women in the textile workshop, including particularly Gunta Stolzl and Anni Albers, developed innovative concepts and new techniques that raised the craft of weaving to that of a fine art. Alma Buscher designed juvenile furniture that considered children as more than simply pint-sized adults. Marianne Brandt, the only woman in the metal workshop, became its most celebrated member, designing objects that were both practical and beautiful. Grete Marks and Marguerite Friedlander-Wildenhain helped to bring a modern aesthetic to ceramic tableware. And Lilly Reich, the first woman interior designer, was a skilled exhibition designer on her own as well as partnering with Mies van der Rohe on some of his most celebrated furniture designs.  It’s time to acknowledge that these women were every bit equal (and perhaps occasionally superior) to their much-celebrated male colleagues.