Art Deco and Bauhaus – similarities and differences

When?

Art Deco: 1919-1929 (Black Tuesday and the Great Depression)

Bauhaus (means ”building house”): 1919-1933 (build up to WW2)

Why?

Art Deco: WW1 ended Art Nouveau – after the war the world had changed. Women had been freed from a life of oppression – they filled the jobs that men at war had vacated and their lives, and of the men, would change forever. They were no longer subservient, they had rights – to work, to vote, to wear what they wanted and be who they wanted. Prudish Victorian values had gone. There was optimism for the future, there would never be another “war to end all wars”. The golden age of Hollywood and screen icons drove consumer culture. The printing press made it easy to produce print which meant there was lots of ad space to sell. Everyone had leisure time.

Bauhaus: Walter Gropius (the founder of Bauhaus) wanted good design for everyone, not the wealthy elite few.

Where:

Art Deco: It was embraced across the world, but particularly in the US.

Bauhaus:

Who?

Art Deco:

Bauhaus: Was a school of art and design in Weimar, Germany. Founded by Walter Gropius, he appointed artists as teachers – Paul Klee, Vassily Kandinsky, Josef Albers, Herbert Bayer and Gunta Stoltz. This was the invention of the modern art school, not for the wealthy, but for all.  The town hated the “long haired radical art students”. The school was totally inclusive, men and women attended. In the first 6 months they studied foundation subjects of form and materials. Then they studied how to use every material in workshops, and studied tools, space, colour, construction, etc, before specialising and working on architectural projects.  Many women applied and specialised in weaving (not through choice!).

Ethos?

Art Deco: Luxury for everyone, embrace the new, only looking to the future and to reinvigorate commercialism. It was all about the image of youth and optimism. Desirable but achievable, project an image of well traveled, exotic, wealthy. 

Bauhaus: Affordable design for the masses. Embracing mass production. Honesty of design and materials. Form follows function. Clean lines. Design through collaboration.  Elevate status of craftsmen. This was about a new future, embracing the machine age, the modern and new, but with an honesty and integrity. Everything was designed, manufactured and showcased in their workshops.

What?

Art Deco: fashion, art, painting, film (eg Batman), sculpture, graphic design. Very geometric designs, luxurious materials, zig zags, steps, guilding, precious and semi precious materials, plastic to fake jewels. Imagery of skyscrapers, ocean liners, travel. with bold colours, symmetry, sunbursts, geometric lines. Broad range of products and no unified look – individual elements of the style may be incorporated on their own.  Everything became stylized, even day to day objects. Suntans became fashionable.

Bauhaus: Very specific look. Architecture, furniture, posters, textiles, typography. Geometric and simple. Red, yellow and blue, circles, squares and triangles. Wood was replaced by metal, inspired by cars and planes. They built a housing estate in the town – affordable, modern prefabs.

How?

Art Deco: influenced by international travel, archeological finds, Egyptians, Aztec, Mexican, Japanese and Chinese art.

Bauhaus: influenced by Modernism, Art Deco and Deutscher Werkbund (utility).

The end

Art Deco: Ended with the Great Depression. The end spread slowly, with the end of optimism. People were starving in America, and it was seen as gaudy and in poor taste. Artists were bored of it. Art Deco was dead when WW2 began.

Bauhaus: At the end of WW1 the Treaty of Versailles meant Germany was bankrupt, the reneged on their debt, hyperinflation was a fact of life and there was social unrest. The monarchy was overthrown. Bauhaus was a much a socialist movement as anything else and the Nazis dissolved the Bauhaus because of their communist politics. It was seen as cosmopolitan, Jewish loving and Bolshevik.

Legacy

Art Deco: When countries are feeling rich and people are optimistic, opulence is back in fashion – with a booming stock market in the 1980s bad taste was back in. Using plastics to imitate rare stones continues today.  The desexualisation of the “flapper girl” has disappeared and younger and younger girls are being sexualised now because of exposure to internet images. After the WW1 women may have thought they would finally become equal, but this is still not the case today. Advertising perpetuates the image of women being only valued for sex.

Bauhaus: Teachers and students of the Bauhaus spread throughout the world – their mark is clearly seen on Chicago where many of them emigrated to. The New Typography, and the popularity of sans serifs.

With austerity in the West, there is a backlash against overt displays of wealth now, and people are returning to desiring well made, individual products that outlast trashy throw away goods. The middle classes are willing to pay more for things with these attributes. German design is still perceived as solid, reliable, if unexciting construction. German cars – VW, BMW, Mercedes, are the epitome of this, along with German electrical goods.

The advent of the advertising agency in the 20s and 30s lives on, and graphic design has taken hold. The idea of beauty and youth being the ideals is perpetuated by ads.

Modernism came out of both Art Deco and Bauhaus….