With a century of hindsight, the Bauhaus and Harvard seem like an odd coupling; the latter, a then-WASPy bastion of American educational privilege, and the former, a European school hellbent on a revolution in the arts. The nascent Bauhaus even had a quasi-religious tone, as stated in founder Walter Gropius’ manifesto: “We will embrace architecture and sculpture and painting…which will one day rise toward heaven from the hands of a million workers like the crystal symbol of a new faith.”
Prompted by the centennial of the Bauhaus, founded in 1919 in Weimar, Germany, Harvard is opening the doors to its vast Bauhaus collection—the largest outside Germany—with The Bauhaus and Harvard. The enlivening exhibition includes only a fraction of the holdings and is located in the Renzo Piano–designed building addition, now Harvard Art Museums, a consolidation of The Fogg, the Busch-Reisinger, and Arthur M. Sackler museums. The collection was spurred by Gropius, who recognized the historical importance of the Bauhaus artifacts. In 1948, he asked Charles Kuhn, director of the Bausch-Reisinger Museum, to solicit donations from Bauhaus alumni, including pieces from various Bauhaus-influenced schools. The show, well-organized into three sections, encompasses painting, graphics, sculpture, photography, architecture, weaving, and more.
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