What’s In Your House? Bauhaus

There aren’t too many artistic movements from the early 20th century that still show such a big influence in modern presentations. Sure, a silent film just one the best picture trophy at the Academy Awards a few short months back, but that is certainly the exception rather than the rule. Prior to “The Artist,” I can’t remember the last time a silent film had such mass appeal. It’s certainly been decades. Popular music today bears no resemblance to what it did back in the Robert Johnson era. You think he ever would have dreamed about writing a song about apple bottom jeans and boots with the fur? But artists in the field of creative design still show respect for artists that have worked in the field beforehand. They do this by continually honoring the Bauhaus school. The Bauhaus school operated out of Weimar, Germany. It started up in 1919. For all the influence it had on modern design, it’s astonishing to note that it only stayed open for 14 years, after being closed down in 1933 due to the rise of the Nazis. Think of the Bauhaus school as The Beatles. Though they are largely considered to be the greatest pop band of the 20th century, the fab four were together for less than a decade. And just like The Beatles formed from the remnants of a previous band (sorry Pete Best), so did the Bauhaus school. The school took over the building of the famed Weimar Academy of Fine Arts, and inherited a lot of the faculty and student when it opened. Yet even though a large segment of the faculty stayed the same, the ethos and the curriculum saw a seismic shift. Bauhaus was the first school of its kind that even considered merging the concepts of individualist artistic freedom and industrialized mass production. Needless to say, if no one had ever stated that it was okay for these schools of thought to meld, the interior decoration industry would not be allowed to thrive. There was a large emphasis on modernism. School director, Walter Gropius, worked with Peter Behrens prior to acquiring his job at the school, and Behrens was a pioneer in German design. While the school did not focus solely on architectural or interior design (photography and theater were also fields of study), Gropius required that all students take a survey course in basic design their first year of study. He felt this was the best way for students to open their mind to more creative avenues than they had been exposed to in the past. But like with so much else in early 20th century Germany, the Bauhaus school was not spared from controversy and political turmoil. When the Nazis started to gain power, many of the top student at Bauhaus were forced to flee, and the fled everywhere, everywhere from the rest of western Europe to North America to Israel. As a result, these cultures were exposed to artistic ideas they knew nothing of before, and gave birth to generations of artists who would take these ideals and run with them. Indeed, Steve Jobs once said that if it were not for the Bauhaus school, his career would not have been possible. In tumultuous times, when education funding is holding on by a very thin thread and is constantly in danger, it’s great to emphasize the longstanding power and influence that a school can exert. The Bauhaus school was such a school. Spruce up your walls with custom printed wallpaper and customized wallpaper.