Dolls in the Bauhaus

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Replica of the puppet "The Tailor" (2015), original from 1923

As part of the Staatliches Bauhaus art school , dolls were created in different doll genres at the Bauhaus . A distinction must be made between puppets for artistic presentations, such as in puppet theater, and puppets that were intended as toys. Many Bauhaus members tried their hand at the art of making dolls. Such two-dimensional dolls created for stage games, hand puppets , rod puppets , marionettes and throwing dolls . At Bauhaus festivals, the artists often dressed up in masks or costumes that were inspired by the world of dolls.

Stage workshop

The stage workshop with theater, music, dance and performances was part of the Bauhaus training concept from the start. The first workshop manager was form master Lothar Schreyer from 1919 to 1923 . Under him, dolls and full masks were used to develop new artistic dimensions. In 1923 Oskar Schlemmer took over the management. Schlemmer saw puppets as a medium that helps the actor to experience the relationship between body and space.

Replica of the marionette "Der Bucklige" (2015), original from 1923

There were recurring elements in the design. Limbs were replaced by “ prostheses ”: The puppet theater Mann am Schaltbrett by Kurt Schmidt , premiered at the Bauhaus in 1924, showed a doll with a kind of pirate wooden leg. The little hunchback puppet has forearms that are reminiscent of blunt clubs . Another figure has a metal prosthesis instead of a hand, which turns into a wrench. It can be assumed that these elements can not only be ascribed to the Bauhaus functionality, but could also reflect experiences with the war invalids of the First World War . The Bauhaus members Oskar Schlemmer and László Moholy-Nagy had served at the front.

The artistic work was not limited to the characters, but also included the entire stage concept. Starting with the stage design, for example, Alma Siedhoff-Buscher created freely variable stage designs for children's theater. Andor Weininger worked on a larger scale in the Mechanische Bühnen-Revue (1926), in which he had geometrically shaped puppets appear in a choreographed production. They moved between colored bands and circles, accompanied by light and acoustic effects. This performance is considered to be the forerunner of today's multimedia shows.

The use of dolls as toys was also evident in other workshops. Alma Buscher designed a cabinet element for the children's room in the Am Horn model house that can also be used as a puppet theater.

Two-dimensional dolls

In the first phase of the Bauhaus, from 1919 to 1923, artists preferred two-dimensional dolls or figures. With the arrival of Moholy-Nagy, the representations became increasingly abstract. The ABC Hippodrome by Marcel Breuer was performed as part of the Bauhaus exhibition in 1923 . Two-dimensional figures were moved by hidden dancers against a black background.

Puppets

Kurt Schmidt was also interested in puppets when he was interested in the stage, but there was generally no discourse among Bauhaus artists with the puppet theater of their time. Decades later, however, the work of the Bauhaus artists became an inspiration for puppeteers.

The adventures of the little hunchback

Replicas of the puppets from The Little Hunchback's Adventures in a scene play

In 1923, under the direction of Oskar Schlemmer, the students of the stage workshop developed marionettes for the fairy tale The Adventures of the Little Hunchback from fairy tales from 1001 Nights . In part 4 of the Bauhaus book , the Bauhaus internal workbook, there are pictures of the approximately 30 cm high dolls. These dolls were designed by Kurt Schmidt and manufactured by Toni Hergt . There was no performance at that time. The original puppets have no play threads. Seven of these puppets are in the Dresden State Art Collections . In 2015, playable replicas of the marionettes were made, with black guide crosses. The replicas are in the holdings of the Klassik Stiftung Weimar . In 2019 Christian Fuchs brought the piece with the replicas on stage.

  • Marionette The Bucklige : This puppet of the ensemble appears the most conventional and almost dispenses with the typical design language of the Bauhaus. The appearance is reminiscent of the contemporary comic characters Felix the Cat and the early Mickey Mouse . The lower jaw and eyes are mobile. When lying down, your eyes close. In the replica, each of the three elements can be addressed separately by three threads. Contrary to the role name, the figure has no hump.
  • Marionette The Doctor : This figure follows the Bauhaus style in terms of both shape and color. The puppet is difficult to play because of the numerous joints and long tips / syringes in the hands that get caught in the threads. The back is painted black. The doll is reminiscent of the contemporary red-blue chair by Gerrit Rietveld .
  • Marionette The doctor's servant : When designing this doll, submissiveness in posture was important to Kurt Schmidt. Therefore the soles of the feet are held at an angle that urges the servant into a bow. Bowing from the stand to the floor is also possible. The figure has a plate-shaped and a cuboid-shaped hand. In the game the figure is clear in its movements. The shape is cubic. In keeping with the submissive character, this marionette has a lower color. It is black, except for two small color accents on the hands in red and yellow.
Replica of the puppet "The Oil Trader"
  • Puppet The Oil Dealer : This puppet is the oldest in this ensemble. It was originally designed for the legend Schmied von Apolda . That project was discarded and the doll was taken over for this piece. The figure appears compact with a curled, colorful skirt. The puppet of the Kunstsammlungen Dresden has a shortened skirt that reveals a black substructure. In the replica, the hem has been made in the original length. The figure has a spherical and a cube-shaped hand.
  • Marionette Der Schneider : This figure is the only one not in the Dresden collection as an original. It is said that Kurt Schmidt gave the tailor as a present to a lady, whereupon it ended up in the Bauhaus archive in Berlin via several routes , where it is now kept in the depot . The replica was based on data from Dresden. He is the most difficult doll to play. On the one hand, she has an expansive beard made of copper wire that gets caught in the guide threads. On the other hand it is provided with folding joints at the hip so that it comprises a legged can assume. This feature makes walking very difficult. Anatomically impossible movements shape the character of this marionette.
  • Marionette The tailor's wife : She is the only female person in the ensemble. The expression of the design is aggressive:
    nails in the eyes, bared teeth, protruding hair and clenched fists. The floor-length skirt is made of multi-layered newspaper. It was first colored in color, then painted black and sanded again, so that a surface in shabby chic was created.
  • Puppet The Executioner : It is the easiest puppet to build. Their appearance is reminiscent of a skeleton in red and white.
    How the executioner should have operated the gallows indicated in the concept is questionable. The figure has a plate-shaped and a cuboid-shaped hand.
  • Marionette The crier : In the report that Kurt Schmidt made in 1972 about the work on this puppet, the crier does not appear. The design of this doll clearly assigns him to the 1923 Bauhaus puppets. The crier is holding a black whisper bag. The figure is in red, white and yellow. From one side the figure appears white, red on the other, an effect that even when the disc dancers in Triadic Ballet by Oskar Schlemmer is used.

  • Replica of the puppet "The Doctor" (2015), original from 1923

  • Replica of the marionette “The Tailor's Wife” (2015), original from 1923

  • Replica of the marionette “The Crier” (2015), original from 1923

  • Replica of the puppet "The Bucklige" with facial expressions (2015), original from 1923

More figures

Small and large signal figurine: The large signal figurine is mounted on an untreated piece of furniture wood. In terms of color, the figures are kept in the basic colors red, yellow, blue and white and black. The small signal, unusually, also has pink on its front. As with railroad signals, elements of the two figures can be folded away. The figures come from the bundle of the Dresden Puppet Theater Collection. Nothing is known about their use. Possibly they served as a preliminary study for Kurt Schmidt's Mechanical Ballet .

Hand puppets

Several artists made hand puppets. Karl Peter Röhl carved and painted heads of strong character around 1920 with elements of naive, rural and expressionist art. At the same time, Gerhard Marcks was also carving wooden dolls.

Paul Klee, untitled hand puppet (self-portrait), from 1922

Paul Klee

Paul Klee did not choose wood as the material for his 50 hand puppets, which he made for his son Felix from 1916 to 1924 or 1925 . The dolls are not mentioned in the Bauhaus catalog raisonné, as they were intended as private toys from the start. Since the dolls were made during the time of the prominent artist at the Bauhaus, they are listed here for the sake of completeness.

Klee used plaster of paris to design the heads , but also everyday objects such as sockets or bristle brushes. The costumes consist of fur and fabric scraps and paint. The dolls range between works of art and toys. The characters are, for example, opera characters, family members and friends. The design corresponds to Klee's imagery.

The hand puppet that Paul Klee made of himself is striking. The head is carved from a cow bone. Disproportionate eyes flank the skull, which tapers towards the center of the face. In terms of color, black is predominant, with a black beard, black coat and a kind of black fez .

The doll of the barber of Baghdad wears a turban with the bristles of a paintbrush protruding from the tip. The large, blue eyes and a prominent nose are striking. Here the influences of Klee's trip to Tunisia become visible.

Frau Tod and her husband, Little Death , have white heads and robes. The woman's grim face is decorated with black and red ornaments, her dress with red applications. Her husband, the smaller doll, has huge black eye sockets and the toothy smile of a skull. It is said that Little Death was Klee's favorite doll.

The dolls have remained in the family's possession to this day and are not for sale. Of the previously 50 dolls, 20 were burned in Würzburg in 1944 during World War II . The Paul Klee Center in Bern is now keeping the 30 remaining originals . In 2008 replicas of 11 dolls were made, true to detail right down to the quality of the stitching. The replicas are 20% larger to fit an adult hand size. Several puppet theater performances with the replicas followed, in which Klee's life as a painter was told. A production, played by the united-puppets ensemble , was part of the 2009 supporting program for the exhibition “The Bauhaus is coming” in Weimar. On the occasion of the 100th birthday of the Bauhaus, there were again demonstrations in 2019.

Klee did not only deal with puppetry privately for his son, but also in his artistic work at the Bauhaus.

  • Paul Klee, untitled hand puppet (Barber of Baghdad), from 1921

  • Paul Klee, untitled hand puppet (Herr Tod), from 1916

  • Paul Klee, untitled hand puppet (electric spook), from 1923

  • Paul Klee, hand puppet untitled (crowned poet), from 1919

Puppets

Throw doll by Alma Siedhoff-Buscher

Alma Siedhoff-Buscher designed the so-called throw puppets for children. The dolls have a wooden head with a plainly painted face made of geometric shapes. The tangled head of hair is made of bast. The long limbs are also made of bast material, braided and each finished with a wooden ball. The clothes are knitted from chenille yarn. The dolls are characterized by their robustness and the various possibilities of movement of the slimy limbs.

Siedhoff-Buscher applied for a patent for their puppets. However, the puppets never went into series production because they could only be made by hand. As a result, only a few copies have survived. One is owned by Alma Siedhoff-Buscher's son, the actor Joost Siedhoff .

Stick puppets

Siedhoff-Buscher created a space-saving collapsible puppet theater with stick puppets around 1922. Eberhard scrapes drechselte 1923 six rod puppets.

Web links

Commons : Bauhaus puppets  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Bauhaus. In: World Encyclopaedia of Puppetry Arts Online. UNIMA Internationale, accessed on October 8, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e AG: Hand puppet heads. Karl Peter Röhl, 1920. In: 100 Years of Bauhaus. Bauhaus Cooperation Berlin Dessau Weimar gGmbH, 2015, accessed on September 30, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Kai Sammet: Fragmented male bodies in the total theater of operations? Comments on the reprint “Die Bühne im Bauhaus” from 1925. In: Literaturkritik.de, online edition: ISSN 1437-9317. Verlag LiteraturWwissenschaft.de, Thomas Anz, June 19, 2019, accessed on October 6, 2019 .
  4. ↑ a b c d Annette Bußmann: Alma Siedhoff-Buscher. Biography. In: fembio.org. Institute for Women's Biography Research Hannover / Boston, accessed on October 3, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Oswald Oberhuber, LW Rochowanski, Jürgen Schilling and others: Will to form . Non-representational art 1910-1938 in Austria, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. In: Jürgen Schilling (Ed.): Will to form . University of Applied Arts, Vienna 1993, ISBN 978-3-85211-021-9 , p. 167 .
  6. ↑ Ute Ackermann, Anke Blümm, Martina Ullrich: Haus Am Horn . Bauhaus architecture in Weimar. Ed .: Klassik Stiftung Weimar. Hirmer, Munich 2019, ISBN 978-3-7774-3274-8 , Das Kinderzimmer, p. 48.51 .
  7. ^ Rike Reiniger: Bauhaus. Online lexicon. In: German Forum for Puppet Theater and Puppetry eV Annette Dabs, accessed on October 2, 2019 .
  8. ^ Walter Gropius, L. Moholy-Nagy: Figurines from the puppet game: The adventures of the little hunchback . Kurt Schmidt illustrations. In: The Bauhaus in Dessau (ed.): Bauhaus books . The stage at the Bauhaus. No. 4 . Albert Langen Verlag, Munich 1925, p. 80, 81 .
  9. ↑ a b c Christian Fuchs: The adventures of the little hunchback - A Bauhaus puppet game. Originals and replicas. In: buckliger.wordpress.com. Christian Fuchs, Leipzig, accessed on September 30, 2019 .
  10. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Christian Fuchs: The adventures of the little hunchback - A Bauhaus puppet game. Originals and replicas. In: buckliger.wordpress.com. Christian Fuchs, Leipzig, May 2017, accessed on September 30, 2019 .
  11. ↑ The adventures of the little hunchback - a Bauhaus puppet theater. Long Night of the Museums Berlin August 31, 2019. In: Long Night of the Museums. Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH, 2019, accessed on October 3, 2019 .
  12. ↑ a b 100 years of Bauhaus - About the clover. Puppet theater. In: Academy of the Arts Online. Akademie der Künste, Berlin, accessed on October 3, 2019 .
  13. ↑ a b c d e f g Ingeborg Ruthe: Paul Klee left behind artistic hand puppets. Berlin players bring them to the stage in a play about painting life. The bovine bone face and the little death. In: berliner-zeitung.de. DuMont.next GmbH & Co. KG, September 30, 2008, accessed on October 5, 2019 .
  14. ↑ The doll will have breakfast. Events around the topic of Bauhaus and modernity in Saxony-Anhalt. In: Discover Bauhaus. IMG - Investitions- und Marketinggesellschaft Sachsen-Anhalt mbH, accessed on October 3, 2019 .
  15. ↑ The Bauhaus comes from Weimar April 1 - 5, 2009. (PDF) Framework program. In: Program on DBZ - Bauverlag.de. Klassik Stiftung Weimar, April 2009, p. 6 , accessed on October 6, 2019 .
  16. ↑ ABOUT THE CLOVER or The Bone in My Head. United Puppets. In: Brandenburg State Museum for Modern Art. Brandenburgische Kulturstiftung Cottbus-Frankfurt (Oder), accessed on October 5, 2019 .
  17. ↑ red / noh: The Bauhaus lets the puppets dance in Cottbus. Culture. In: Lausitzer Rundschau Online. Lausitzer VerlagsService GmbH, August 23, 2019, accessed on October 5, 2019 .
  18. ↑ About the clover or the bone in my head. Puppet show about the Bauhaus master Paul Klee is performed in the e-werk. In: Tabula Rasa Magazin - newspaper for society and culture. Stefan Groß, April 28, 2009, accessed October 6, 2019 .
  19. ↑ a b c d Stefan Locke: Mother at the Bauhaus. A portrait of Joost Siedhoff. In: faz.net. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung GmbH, June 24, 2019, accessed on October 3, 2019 .
  20. ↑ a b Julia Zimmermann: Mother at the Bauhaus. A portrait of Joost Siedhoff. In: faz.net. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung GmbH, June 24, 2019, accessed on October 3, 2019 .