Customer Reviews

Bauhaus (World of Art)

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Frank Whitford's Bauhaus in the Thames & Hudson World of Art series provides a fine basic introduction to the 20th century's most important school of art. Whitford writes engagingly and informatively. He begins by sketching the prehistory of the school in the 19th century arts-and-crafts movement and then goes on to examine van der Velde and the Weimar Art School that served as the basis upon which Gropius established the school. Whitford deals with all the major figures in the fourteen-year history of the Bauhaus and he uses contemporary documents (journals, personal accounts, etc.) to tell the story. I rank this among the best books in the Thames & Hudson series. In fact, I assigned it as a required text in a course on the Bauhaus and the Weimar Republic. Incidentally, teachers might be interested to know that Whitford has also written and narrated a fine 60" film "Bauhaus: Face of the 20th Century" (available in the Films for the Humanities series.)

Mister Whitford thoroughly chronicled the events that formed and shaped the Bauhaus - from the very beginning to the unfortunate end. A very good point of view - a must read for the Bauhaus enthusiast.

This a great tribute to perhaps the most influential design institute of the 20th Century.
The story of it's development, philosophy, success and untimely end is perfectly chronicled here.
The expert, novice and vaguely interested would find this book useful. It's a superb acaedemic source and an important catalogue. Bauhaus still influences design today and should also be regarded historicaly as yet another victim of the Nazi regime.

Like the other titles in the World of Art series, this book is generously illustrated and provides a solid overview of a particular style. The author describes the historical context of the Bauhaus school, the development of the Bauhaus style, key figures at the school and within the movement, and the influence of Bauhaus art and design on future artistic styles. Most of the illustrations are black-and-white period photographs; the remainder (approximately 20%) are in color.

This is a well-constructed paperback with a strong binding. It is a good introduction to Bauhaus, and also a good source for undergraduate students researching the style. For libraries with strong art and design collections, this volume complements others that focus on individual artists and designers.

Frank Whitford provides an essential introduction to the Bauhaus in his book, titled simply--Bauhaus. Whitford follows the events of the school from a historical perspective starting with Walter Gropius' plan and motivation for the school, to its ultimate end in Dessau at the hand of the Nazis. Whitford also presents personal perspectives through the journal entries and personal letters of the staff and students of the Bauhaus. These personal accounts help create a connection between the historical and the personal, and track the change in mood within the school. Whitford's book spends very little time on the impact of the Bauhaus, which is an analysis beyond the scope of this book. Frank Whitford's book, Bauhaus should be of interest to any student of art, design or education.

Copyright © 2007 Of My Own Design, Josh Crain. All Rights Reserved.

Let me begin by saying that this was a required book for a class I am taking. I probably would not have bought this otherwise. With that preface in mind... the book was pretty good. It gives a thorough history of the Bauhaus. That is why it gets high marks from me; it does what it was supposed to do.

Now for the problems. The book reads like an art history book: very dry. A few of the students in my class had trouble getting past the first few pages. Second, the book is broken up into chapters based on content area. This makes it difficult to understand the whole timeline of the Bauhaus. I had to create my own timeline to help me understand the context of all of the information.

To sum up, this book is not for casual reading. If you already know about the Bauhaus and want more details, you will love this book.

Great background to an institution which was about as rock'n'roll as they come. The soul put into the establishment, its teachings, its beliefs (collective and individual) and the commitment of those involved is staggering - its a shame that it really doesn't have an equivalent today, but that's todays politic and media for you. Consice account that was almost written as a historical novel - Christ, I even read the bibliography at the end !! Off to find more books about it all now. Oh, and listen to Blumfeld, International Jetset & Earl Brutus whilst reading this too.

AJC 1999