Women of the Bauhaus

The Bauhaus was seen as a progressive academic institution, as it declared equality between the sexes and accepted both male and female students into its programs.

[4] The Bauhaus taught a combination of fine arts, craft and industrial arts, and design theory in order to produce artists that were equipped to create both practical and aesthetically pleasing works to cater to an increasingly industrialized world.

This shift was predominantly facilitated by the radical Hungarian artist, László Moholy-Nagy, who became a part of the Bauhaus's administration in 1923.

A few years later, the increasingly conservative municipal government forced Meyer to resign and replaced him with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

[4] Due to the increasing political pressure of the anti-modernist Nazi government, the Bauhaus shut its doors in 1933.

[7] In her career, she successfully merged textile crafts with industrial production and abstract modernist design, which brought unity to the three areas.

Initially, Brandt was trained as a painter, but became the first woman admitted into the metalworking program at the Bauhaus.

[4] Her industrial designs for household objects have been recognized as iconic expressions of the Bauhaus aesthetic.

She attended the Bauhaus from 1922 to 1925, where she studied sculpture and colour theory under Josef Hartwig and Paul Klee.

She attended the Bauhaus from 1919 to 1923, where she was involved in the textile design, printmaking, bookbinding and typography workshops.

Although she never graduated from the Bauhaus, she had a successful career, as she gained fame from her stage and costume designs for theatres and films.

"[2] She was initially employed as an assistant teacher, but eventually became the only female form master at the school.

Helm studied at the Kunsthochschule Kassel, the Grand-Ducal Saxon Art School, Weimar and attended 1919 the Bauhaus, where she was an apprentice in the mural and textile workshop.

In 1922 she passed the journeyman's examination as a decorative painter in front of the Weimar Chamber of Crafts.

In 1921 she was involved in the project de:Haus Sommerfeld from Gropius, she made an application curtain and worked as a consultant in the interior design.

She was a ceramicist who came to the Bauhaus with a prior education in the arts and eventually found professional success.

[2] In 1923, she established the Hael Workshops for Art Ceramics, which was a very lucrative business, until its forced closure and sale in 1933.

Eventually, she moved to England, where she continued to produce ceramics and paintings, which were praised in post-war London.

Although the Bauhaus was closed shortly after, Reich continued to have a successful career as an interior designer.

She studied mural painting at the school and developed a long career as a painter, children's book illustrator, and architectural designer.

Later in her career, she established a photography practice with fellow Bauhaus photographer, Ellen Rosenberg.

[2] Due to the political climate of Nazi Germany, Stern emigrated to Argentina, where she died on 24 December 1999.

[1] Others claim that although the school fronted progressive ideas of gender equality, its administration was rooted in ideals of the past and in misogyny.

[6] Similarly, the school also attempted to redirect Benita Koch-Otte into more domestic subjects, but she persevered with her original studies and became an influential figure in both textile design and art education.

[2] Another source of criticism surrounds the belief that Gropius's proclamation of gender equality "remained theoretical in the teaching field.

[2] The decline in female enrolment also corresponded to Gropius's alterations to the acceptance policy for women.

Because of the initially high influx of female students, Gropius stated that "for the foreseeable future, only women of extraordinary talents would be accepted into the school.

Major newspapers, like The Guardian and The New York Times, have published articles concerning the controversies of the Bauhaus, with particular critique of its reputation as an institution that promoted gender equality.

[13] In 2013, Phaidon Press released an article which praised the female pioneers of the Bauhaus and included photographs taken by Gertrud Arndt.