Herbert Bayer was one of the most extraordinary artists associated with
the Bauhaus school. A true multimedia artist, he united graphic design,
art, and architecture in a unique style that came to represent the bold
aesthetic approach of the movement. A teacher with the school until
1928, Bayer went on to become a highly successful graphic designer in
Germany, and later one of the most prominent figures in the 20th-century
art scene of the United States.
This broad biographical account, which presents previously unseen
archival photographs and episodes from the life of Bayer and other
influential Bauhaus artists such as Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer and
László Moholy-Nagy, follows Bayer through the Weimar Republic, Nazi
Germany and finally to his exile in the United States. Specifically,
Patrick Rössler reveals for the first time Bayer's unique experience of
1930s Germany, where, with his commercial and artistic life shattered by
terror and censorship, he distracted himself with leading a hedonistic
life. Shining a light on Bayer's time in Berlin during the Weimar
Republic, and his route out of the Nazi state, Rössler provides rich new
insights into how Bauhaus artists navigated a protracted period of
social upheaval and dictatorship, where commercial success was fraught
with a deep hostility towards the regime and the temptations of
emigration.
Revealing the tensions of an avant-garde artist struggling to practice
during a period of repression, Herbert Bayer, Graphic Designer speaks
to both the memory of those who left Nazi Germany, but also the
perseverance of artists and intellectuals throughout history who have
worked under authoritarian regimes. Drawing on never before interpreted
documents, letters and archival material, Rössler tells Bayer's
compelling story - documenting the life of a unique artist and offering
a valuable contribution to research in émigré experiences.
