MARCEL BREUER – A CREATURE OF THE BAUHAUS: UNDERSTANDING THE GERMAN BAUHAUS IDEOLOGIES 1919 – 1928, THROUGH THE WORKS OF MARCEL BREUER

Abstract

The German Bauhaus (1919-1928) is one of the most influential Modernist art schools in the Twentieth Century. The literal translation of Bauhaus from German is “Building House”. The name of the school reflects the philosophy which its founder, Walter Gropius created between 1919 to 1928. The school strove to reform art education by combining fine arts with crafts and the modern industry, which ultimately would be expressed on architecture. Besides the conventional way of understanding the Bauhaus through speeches and publications made by Gropius, I suggest an alternative approach to understand the history and ideologies of the school i.e.: through Gropius’ protégé and Bauhaus-trained practitioner and teacher, Marcel Breuer. While Gropius had outlined the school’s philosophies, Breuer had given them actual form. I propose a formal analysis of Breuer’s widely and critically received pieces of furniture, particularly chairs and architectural projects from his post-Bauhaus years. Through the formal analysis, I will also justify why Breuer was “a creature of Bauhaus” as J. Stewart Johnson, the Curator of Design in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) described him, and perhaps even more than that.