Bauhaus printing

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Poster for the Bauhaus exhibition of 1923 in Weimar by Joost Schmidt , produced in the Bauhaus printing house

The graphic print shop at the Weimar Bauhaus, founded in 1919, was a Bauhaus workshop that initially mainly produced graphics, portfolios and art prints by the Bauhaus masters. It was only with the appointment of László Moholy-Nagy as successor to Johannes Itten in 1923 that everyday printed products and advertising graphics were also produced in a new typography and modern layout, also for customers. The products of the print shop became known through sophisticated art prints as well as posters , flyers and invitations based on the designs of the Bauhaus masters and students.

history

Although the printing company did not train apprentices in the sense of a legal apprenticeship certificate , it did enable members of the Bauhaus to learn various art print techniques. From the founding in 1919 to 1921, the painter and graphic artist Walther Klemm , from 1913 lecturer at the Grand Ducal Saxon Art School Weimar , headed the graphic printing workshop of the Bauhaus as master of form . He was replaced by Lyonel Feininger , who promoted the production of portfolios and art prints based on the work of Bauhaus masters and students. The five-part art print portfolio “New European Graphics” with works from the international avant-garde is considered an important work of this phase . This created under the direction of Carl Zaubitzer, the technical master of the workshop, including the well-known from lines set Bauhaus Signet of Oskar Schlemmer . In 1925, when the Bauhaus moved to Dessau, the sole production of art prints ended; the focus was now on the production of advertising graphics, business stationery, brochures and posters. To this end, László Moholy-Nagy propagated a completely new typography with graphic elements. In May 1929 an exhibition with the title “Where is the typographical development going?” Took place in what was then the Berlin Museum of Decorative Arts . The occasion was the “New Typography” exhibition organized by the State Art Library. László Moholy-Nagy was asked to design one of the rooms on the theme of the future of typography. For this purpose, he made 78 display boards showing photographs, texts and images.

Technical Equipment

For the production of art prints, the graphic workshop of the Bauhaus initially had hand presses that came from the inventory of the old Weimar art school. This made it possible to produce etchings using gravure printing, wood and linocuts using letterpress printing on an old letterpress press, and lithographs using flat printing . More modern machines were only purchased in Dessau from 1925, when other print products were to be added to the range in addition to art prints. For this purpose, the print shop had a hand setting with sans serif font from the Schelter & Giesecke type foundry in various font sizes . The printing inks red and black were mostly used . In addition, photos and typographic elements such as lines, bars, grids and dots for the layout were added in the spirit of Moholy-Nagy . From 1927 the Futura was added to the Schelter-Grotesk .

Development of a Bauhaus typography

László Moholy-Nagy: Untitled (Typo Collage) , 27.2 × 38 cm, 1922, Hattula Moholy-Nagy Collection, Michigan USA
Emergency money from Weimar 1923, designed by Herbert Bayer
Example of typography ( Carl Marx )

The 1920 's saw the " New Typography " produced a design movement that opposed the classic layout principles. The aim of this movement was to optimize printed works in terms of better legibility. A standardization of fonts was also aimed for, which should be based on the German industrial standard (DIN). In this common sans serif font types preferred and distracting embellishments omitted. In addition, with the photography of the New Objectivity came the setting of conspicuous image elements. Artists who dealt with the design of New Typography in Germany were, for example, Willi Baumeister , Herbert Bayer , Max Burchartz , Walter Dexel and Kurt Schwitters or at the Bauhaus Joost Schmidt , Xanti Schawinsky , Carl Marx , Reinhold Rossig and Alfred Arndt .

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy described their tasks in his writings on New Typography from 1923: “Typography is an instrument of communication. It must be a clear communication in the haunting form ”(from his programmatic essay in the Bauhaus catalog of 1923). Josef Albers wrote in 1926 about the weighting of image and writing: “Today's life does not take place in the same way, we can no longer be classic. We prefer the illustrated [magazines]: the picture teaches faster and better […]. All writing faces strong competition from photography, cinema and radio. ”(Offset. Book and Advertising Art. Bauhaus-Heft 10, Leipzig 1926, p. 395 ff.) Herbert Bayer states that a redesign of characters also means a reorganization of language and continues: “Just as modern machines, architecture and cinema are expressions of our exact time, so must the writing.” (Offset 10, p. 398 ff.) Herbert Bayer accordingly also used lower case in 1925 which became a characteristic feature of Bauhaus typography. The students who were successful in the training of "wall painting", "drawing of letters" and "advertising design" received a certificate and a "design fee" if their work was used. Your name and the note “bauhaus” appeared in the signature, but the Bauhaus retained all rights.

Reception and current use

There are Bauhaus-specific fonts with the names Joschmi (Joost Schmidt), Xants (Xanti Schawinsky), CarlMarx (Carl Marx), Reross (Reinhold Rossig [1903–1979]) and Alfarn (Alfred Arndt), which are assigned to the Bauhaus Dessau as Digital versions free from Adobe . The well-known Futura font by graphic designer Paul Renner from 1927, which originated in the area around New Frankfurt , had a major influence on Bauhaus typography .

In 2019, the Druckgrafisches Museum Pavillon-Presse Weimar presented the special exhibition “100 Years of Bauhaus Typography” and organized a conference with workshops on the subject.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ László Moholy-Nagy and the New Typography. State Museums in Berlin, August 2019, accessed on September 22, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Magdalena Droste in: Bauhaus Archive Berlin (ed.): Bauhaus. Taschen-Verlag, Cologne 2018, ISBN 978-3-8365-7279-8 , p. 232 ff.
  3. ^ Gerd Fleischmann: Bauhaus - printed matter, typography, advertising . Oktagon, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-927789-80-1 , p. 9 ff .
  4. ^ Joost Schmidt. widewalls.ch.
  5. ^ Hidden Treasures of the Bauhaus Dessau. fonts.adobe.com.
  6. ↑ 100 years of Bauhaus typography. In: Pavillon-Presse Weimar. Retrieved September 22, 2019 .
  7. ↑ 100 years of Bauhaus typography (conference and workshop). In: Bauhaus University Weimar. Retrieved September 22, 2019 .