Gunta Stölzl (5 March 1897 – 22 April 1983) was a German textile artist who played a fundamental role in the development of the Bauhaus school's weaving workshop, where she created enormous change as it transitioned from individual pictorial works to modern industrial designs.

She applied ideas from modern art to weaving, experimented with synthetic materials, and improved the department's technical instruction to include courses in mathematics.

[3] Within Stölzl’s first year at the Bauhaus, she began what she referred to as the “women’s department”, which due to the underlying gender roles within the school, eventually became synonymous with the weaving workshop.

At the time, the department was putting emphasis on artistic expression and individual works that reflected the teachings and philosophies of the painters who served as Bauhaus masters.

In 1921, Stölzl collaborated with Marcel Breuer on the African Chair - made of painted wood with a colorful textile weave.

The building itself, primarily designed by Georg Muche, was a simplistic, highly modern cube structure made largely of steel and concrete.

Each room of the house was designed around its specific function and had specially made furniture, hardware etc., which had been produced in the Bauhaus workshops.

The weaving workshop participated by creating rugs, wall hangings and other objects for various rooms all of which won favorable reviews.

With this exhibition, Walter Gropius released an essay titled ‘Art and Technology – A New Unity' which seemed to have a great impact on the women of the weaving workshop.

[4] The new Dessau campus was equipped with a greater variety of looms and much improved dyeing facilities, which allowed Stölzl to create a more structured environment.

She was assisted by many other key Bauhaus women, including Anni Albers, Otti Berger and Benita Otte.

The earlier Bauhaus methods of artistic expression were quickly replaced by a design approach which emphasized simplicity and functionality.

They tested materials for qualities such as color, texture, structure, resistance to wear, flexibility, light refraction and sound absorption.

Stölzl's ability to translate complex formal compositions into hand woven pieces combined with her skill of designing for machine production made her by far the best instructor the weaving workshop was to have.

Van der Rohe required her resignation in 1931, because of the surrounding Nazi atmosphere in Dessau, while Swastikas were painted on Stölzl's door.

It was also in 1967 that the Victoria and Albert Museum acquired her designs and samples, resulting in major national and international collections.

[3] Stözl's legacy is upheld by her two daughters Monika Stadler and Yael Aloni, who have compiled a primary source collection of her writings and designs.