Bauhaus Goes West is the story of cultural and artistic exchange
between Germany and the West over a period of seventy years. It presents
a view of the influential Bauhaus school in relation to the wider
modernist period, distinguishing between the received idea of the
Bauhaus and the documented reality. Initially, the Bauhaus was seen as
an educational experiment, only later was it recognized as a style and a
movement.
Working from meticulous research, Alan Powers reexamines speculations
about the reception and understanding of individuals connected with the
Bauhaus school and what they ultimately achieved.
Looking in greater detail at the theory and practice of art, design, and
architecture between the arts and crafts movement and modernism, this
book challenges the assumption that the 1920s represented a void of
reactionary conservatism. Bauhaus Goes West offers an opportunity to
recover some of the overlooked aspects of avant-garde that ran parallel
with the work of the Bauhaus, such as the film-making of Francis Brugui
re and Len Lye, and the development of art instruction for children
under Marion Richardson and the London County Council.