An Ideal Unity: The Bauhaus & Beyond

In 1919, architect Walter Gropius observed a world moving further and further away from individually made objects in favor of industrial production. Hoping to unify the arts through craft, he opened the Bauhaus School in Weimar, Germany, hoping to train a generation of students to aspire towards an aesthetic that both served the modern industrial society through mass production and incorporated quality-of-life improving technology. 

Bauhaus quickly became a home of experimentation and ideas, and Gropius invited students from all around the world to challenge preconceived ideas about the possibilities of making. 

The Bauhaus school closed in 1933 with the rise of the Nazi regime, but its influence has prevailed through generations of artists, designers, and craftspeople. 

In the New Orleans Museum of Art's exhibition An Ideal Unity: The Bauhaus & Beyond, photographs, prints, drawings, and decorative arts from the permanent collection come together in a representation of the Bauhaus mission. Works by Bauhaus teachers and students already on view in the permanent collection installations will be identified to further emphasize the school's historic importance in the world of art and design. On display from August 16–March 8.  noma.org.