New Bauhaus

New Bauhaus
Name	New Bauhaus
Established	1937
Founder	László Moholy-Nagy
Location	Chicago, Illinois
Dissolved	1950 (reorganized)
Notable people	László Moholy-Nagy; Walter Gropius; Josef Albers; Paul Klee; Wassily Kandinsky; Marcel Breuer

New Bauhaus was a 20th-century art and design school founded in Chicago in 1937 by László Moholy-Nagy that sought to translate the modernist pedagogy of the Bauhaus into an American context. It combined workshops, studio practice, and experimental research to influence practitioners across United States, Germany, United Kingdom, France, and Italy. The school functioned as a node linking émigré modernists, industrial partners, and educational reformers, shaping design, photography, and industrial production in the mid-20th century.

History

Moholy-Nagy established the New Bauhaus after leaving Bauhaus émigré networks post-World War I and displacement associated with rising Nazism. Early supporters included patrons from the Art Institute of Chicago, members of the Chicago School of Architecture, and émigrés such as Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer, and Josef Albers who migrated through hubs like Berlin and London. The institution opened in 1937 but faced financial pressures leading to closure and reorganization into the Chicago School of Design and later the Institute of Design, which affiliated with Illinois Institute of Technology in 1949. Its trajectory intersected with organizations such as the Museum of Modern Art, corporations like General Motors, and foundations including the Guggenheim Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Philosophy and Principles

The New Bauhaus propagated principles derived from Moholy-Nagy’s experience at the original Bauhaus and dialogues with figures like Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, and Hannes Meyer. Emphasis lay on material experiments, typographic modernism, and integration of art with industrial processes championed by Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe. The philosophy encouraged interdisciplinary collaboration among painting, sculpture, photography, and product design, resonating with contemporaneous debates in venues such as the Vkhutemas circles and exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art. Its aesthetics and ethics paralleled movements represented by De Stijl, Constructivism, and practitioners like El Lissitzky.

Curriculum and Pedagogy

The New Bauhaus adopted workshop-based instruction influenced by the preliminary course concepts introduced by Viktor Lowenfeld-era reformers and predecessors including Johannes Itten. Coursework integrated photographic laboratories, metal and woodworking shops, and courses in color theory drawing on research by Albers and pedagogical reforms associated with Black Mountain College. Studios collaborated with industrial partners such as Kodak, Ford Motor Company, and Herman Miller for applied research. Pedagogical methods included life-drawing, material testing, and project-based assignments comparable to studio practices at the Royal College of Art and laboratory studios at Bauhaus Dessau.

Notable Figures

László Moholy-Nagy led the school and worked alongside émigrés and visiting instructors including Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer, Josef Albers, Irene Bayer, and photographers like Ansel Adams (visitor circuits) and Man Ray (influence). Students and affiliates included designers and artists who later linked to institutions such as the Institute of Design and corporations like General Electric. Critics, curators, and historians such as Sigfried Giedion, Clement Greenberg, and Philip Johnson engaged with the school’s exhibitions, while alumni entered practices associated with firms like Eero Saarinen’s studio, Knoll, and the Chicago Transit Authority design programs.

Influence and Legacy

The New Bauhaus shaped mid-century modern design, affecting architecture and industrial design movements tied to Mies van der Rohe’s Chicago projects and corporate aesthetics at IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and General Electric. Its pedagogy informed curricula at Rhode Island School of Design, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Pratt Institute, and Cooper Union. Visual culture legacies extended into photography movements associated with Edward Steichen and graphic design trajectories linked to Josef Müller-Brockmann and Herbert Bayer. The school’s interdisciplinary model influenced postwar research centers like MIT Media Lab precursors and informed exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum.

Institutions and Successors

After reorganization the New Bauhaus evolved into the Chicago-based Institute of Design, which merged with Illinois Institute of Technology and continued Moholy-Nagy’s mission alongside faculty from Bauhaus lineages. Successor programs and spin-offs included departments at Carnegie Mellon University, design studios at Herman Miller, and research partnerships with corporations like Bell Labs and General Motors. Internationally, its methods resonated with reforms at the Royal College of Art, Ulster University, and design faculties influenced by émigré practitioners who migrated to Israel, Australia, and Japan.

Category:Art schools