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German Expressionism

Works from the Collection


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THE COLLECTION

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From the portfolio

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  • Lyonel Feininger. Gelmeroda from the Masters' Portfolio of the Staatliches Bauhaus (Meistermappe des Staatlichen Bauhauses). (1920, published 1923)
    Gelmeroda from the Masters'...
    (1920, published 1923)
    Lyonel Feininger. Gelmeroda from the Masters' Portfolio of the Staatliches Bauhaus (Meistermappe des Staatlichen Bauhauses). (1920, published 1923)
  • Paul Klee. The One in Love (Der Verliebte) from Masters' Portfolio of the Staatliches Bauhaus (Meistermappe des Staatlichen Bauhauses). 1923
    The One in Love (Der Verliebte)...
    1923
    Paul Klee. The One in Love (Der Verliebte) from Masters' Portfolio of the Staatliches Bauhaus (Meistermappe des Staatlichen Bauhauses). 1923
  • Vasily Kandinsky. Joyous Ascent (Fröhlicher Aufstieg) from Masters' Portfolio of the Staatliches Bauhaus (Meistermappe des Staatlichen Bauhauses). 1923
    Joyous Ascent (Fröhlicher Aufstieg)...
    1923
    Vasily Kandinsky. Joyous Ascent (Fröhlicher Aufstieg) from Masters' Portfolio of the Staatliches Bauhaus (Meistermappe des Staatlichen Bauhauses). 1923
  • Gerhard Marcks. By the Stove (Am Ofen) from Masters' Portfolio of the Staatliches Bauhaus (Meistermappe des Staatlichen Bauhauses). 1923
    By the Stove (Am Ofen) from...
    1923
    Gerhard Marcks. By the Stove (Am Ofen) from Masters' Portfolio of the Staatliches Bauhaus (Meistermappe des Staatlichen Bauhauses). 1923
  • Georg Muche. On the Table (Auf dem Tisch) from Masters' Portfolio of the Staatliches Bauhaus (Meistermappe des Staatlichen Bauhauses). (1923)
    On the Table (Auf dem Tisch) from...
    (1923)
    Georg Muche. On the Table (Auf dem Tisch) from Masters' Portfolio of the Staatliches Bauhaus (Meistermappe des Staatlichen Bauhauses). (1923)
  • László Moholy-Nagy. Composition from Masters' Portfolio of the Staatliches Bauhaus (Meistermappe des Staatlichen Bauhauses). (1923)
    Composition from Masters'...
    (1923)
    László Moholy-Nagy. Composition from Masters' Portfolio of the Staatliches Bauhaus (Meistermappe des Staatlichen Bauhauses). (1923)
  • Oskar Schlemmer. Abstract Figure, Facing Left: Figure S (Abstrakte Figur, nach links: Figur S) from Masters' Portfolio of the Staatliches Bauhaus (Meistermappe des Staatlichen Bauhauses). 1922 (published 1923)
    Abstract Figure, Facing Left: Figure S...
    1922 (published 1923)
    Oskar Schlemmer. Abstract Figure, Facing Left: Figure S (Abstrakte Figur, nach links: Figur S) from Masters' Portfolio of the Staatliches Bauhaus (Meistermappe des Staatlichen Bauhauses). 1922 (published 1923)
  • Lothar Schreyer. Untitled (Ohne Titel) from Masters' Portfolio of the Staatliches Bauhaus (Meistermappe des Staatlichen Bauhauses). 1923
    Untitled (Ohne Titel) from Masters'...
    1923
    Lothar Schreyer. Untitled (Ohne Titel) from Masters' Portfolio of the Staatliches Bauhaus (Meistermappe des Staatlichen Bauhauses). 1923

About the portfolio

Heather Hess, German Expressionist Digital Archive Project, German Expressionism: Works from the Collection. 2011.

The range of approaches in this portfolio evidences the lack of a single Bauhaus style. All of the contributors were "masters," or artist-teachers, at the school. Vasily Kandinsky, László Moholy-Nagy, and Lothar Schreyer created abstract compositions. Paul Klee offered a whimsical erotic scene, while Gerhard Marcks provided a sentimental representation of a mother and child. Lyonel Feininger's and Georg Muche's works are formal experiments showing Cubist influences. What all these prints had in common was the artists' belief in the mission of the Bauhaus and its goal of reshaping modern life through art and design. The sales of the portfolio benefited the school, which was in dire need of funds during the period of runaway inflation in the early years of the Weimar Republic.

PUBLISHING HISTORY

As head of the Bauhaus printing workshop, Feininger directed the monumental project. In addition to designing the portfolio cover and lettering, he oversaw the hand-printing of the entire edition, a process that consisted of rendering more than eight hundred compositions of varying levels of technical complexity onto a range of papers. This painstaking production reflects Feininger's emphasis on the artistic, rather than the reproductive, aspect of printmaking as well as the Bauhaus's craft orientation in its early years.

Various Artists

The Portfolio

Masters' Portfolio of the Staatliches Bauhaus (Meistermappe des Staatlichen Bauhauses)

Date:
1923
Medium:
Portfolio of three lithographs, three woodcuts and two etchings
Publisher:
Staatliches Bauhaus, Weimar(Bauhausverlag G.m.b.H., Munich-Weimar)
Printer:
Staatliches Bauhaus, Weimar
Reference:
Söhn 210.
MoMA Number:
Portfolio_MasterPortfolio
Themes:
Fantasy, Religion, Sex
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