April 6, 2020

Today, April 6, marks 500 years since the death of the Italian painter Raphael in 1520. Raphael was one of the greatest and most influential painters of the Italian Renaissance. His graceful figures and skillful compositions influenced artists up to the early 1900′s. The period of his activity is called the High Renaissance. Raphael painted altarpieces, frescoes (paintings on damp plaster) of historical and mythological scenes, and portraits. His most popular works include his gentle paintings of the Madonna and Child. Raphael was also an architect. From 1514 until his death, he directed the construction of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Raphael’s School of Athens shows a gathering of ancient Greek philosophers and scientists in a Roman architectural setting. Standing in the center are Plato, left, and Aristotle, right. The harmony and balance of the composition are typical of the revival of classicism in the period called the High Renaissance. Credit: Fresco (1510-1511); The Vatican, Rome (The Art Archive)

To mark the quincentenary (500th anniversary) of Raphael’s death, the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., is running an exhibition called “Raphael and His Circle” from February 16 through June 14. (Unfortunately, all museums at the Smithsonian Institution were closed temporarily beginning in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic.) The exhibition includes 26 prints and drawings by Raphael’s contemporaries—his “circle”—as well as four drawings by the master himself. In Italy, the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche ran a Raphael exhibition in the artist’s hometown of Urbino from October 2019 to January 2020. Other Raphael tributes are taking place at the Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome, the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, and at the National Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

The Prophets Hosea and Jonah by Raphael. Credit: The Prophets Hosea and Jonah (1510), pen and brown ink with brown wash over black chalk, heightened with white and squared for transfer on laid paper by Raphael; National Gallery of Art

Raphael was born in Urbino on March 28 or April 6, 1483. His real name was Raffaello Sanzio. His father served as court painter to the Duke of Urbino. About 1494, Raphael went to Perugia to study with Perugino, an important painter. Perugino introduced Raphael to the latest ideas in Italian art and greatly influenced his student’s style.

Raphael settled in Florence in 1504. In Florence, Raphael studied the paintings of the great Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo da Vinci’s balanced compositions and idealized figures had a strong influence on all Renaissance painters, including Raphael.

Late in 1508, Pope Julius II asked Raphael to work for him in Rome. Julius wanted to rebuild and redecorate Rome to reflect its ancient glory. He gathered together the most illustrious architects, painters, and sculptors from all parts of Italy. Raphael created his finest work while in the service of Julius and his successor, Pope Leo X. With the assistance of a large workshop, Raphael produced religious paintings, tapestry designs, palace decorations, and portraits. He died in Rome at age 37 on April 6, 1520, after a short illness.

March 2, 2020

Yesterday, March 1, an exhibition on the French impressionist painter Edgar Degas opened at the National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Washington, D.C. The exhibition, called “Degas at the Opéra,” celebrates the artists’ many works set in the Paris Opéra. The exhibition includes about 100 of the artist’s most famous paintings, pastels, drawings, prints, and sculptures. “Degas at the Opéra” runs until July 5. Prior to its run at the NGA, the exhibition had been at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris since September 2019, shortly after the Opéra celebrated the 350th anniversary of its founding in 1669.

The Dancing Class by Edgar Degas
credit: The Dance Class 1874 by Edgar Degas. Oil on canvas/The Granger Collection

Like the other impressionists, Degas portrayed situations from modern life. However, he did not share his fellow impressionists’ concentration on light and color. Degas emphasized composition, drawing, and form more than did the other members of the movement. He is best known for his paintings of people in both public and unguarded private moments. He showed his figures in awkward or informal positions to free himself from what he felt were outmoded styles of portraying the human body. But, he composed his pictures carefully both for formal balance and to indicate the social interaction of his figures.

Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas was born on July 19, 1834, in Paris, of wealthy parents. From 1854 to 1859, he spent much time in Italy studying the great Renaissance painters to perfect his draftsmanship and style. Degas intended to become a painter of historical scenes, but he abandoned this career because he felt a need to paint modern subjects. Probably under the influence of the painters Gustave Courbet and Édouard Manet, Degas began to paint scenes from everyday life. He especially enjoyed painting pictures of race-track and theatrical life. Degas painted many pictures in oil, but he also excelled in pastel. In addition, he was a fine sculptor and made many clay or wax figurines. Degas died on Sept. 27, 1917.

January 3, 2020

Yesterday, January 2, was the 100th anniversary of the birth of the American author Isaac Asimov in 1920. Asimov wrote about 400 books for young people and adults, mostly nonfiction emphasizing science and technology. However, he became best known for his science fiction.

The author Isaac Asimov was born 100 years ago on Jan. 2, 1920. Credit: © Everett Collection/Alamy Images

Many of Asimov’s short stories and novels feature robots as characters. Several were collected in I, Robot (1950). His popular Foundation series of science-fiction novels includes Foundation (1951), Foundation and Empire (1952), Second Foundation (1953), Foundation’s Edge (1982), Foundation and Earth (1986), Prelude to Foundation (1988), and Forward the Foundation (published in 1993, after his death). He also wrote Fantastic Voyage (1966) and The Gods Themselves (1972).

Asimov’s nonfiction is notable for making complicated material understandable to the general reader. These works include Asimov’s New Guide to Science (1984). Asimov also wrote on such topics as history, humor, William Shakespeare, and the Bible. He wrote two volumes of autobiography, In Memory Yet Green (1979) and In Joy Still Felt (1980).

Asimov was born on Jan. 2, 1920, in Petrovichi, Russia, near Smolensk. When he was 3 years old, his family moved to New York City. Asimov became a United States citizen in 1928. He taught biochemistry at Boston University from 1949 to 1958 before becoming a full-time writer. He died on April 6, 1992.

December 2, 2019

Tomorrow, December 3, marks 100 years since the death of the celebrated French artist Pierre Auguste Renoir in 1919. Renoir, an Impressionist painter, was famous for his pictures of young girls and children and intimate portraits of French middle-class life. He loved to show lively groups in sensuous surroundings. He often used his friends as models and frequently painted his wife and children.

The French artist Pierre Auguste Renoir died 100 years ago on Dec. 3, 1919. Credit: National Library of France

Art museums around the world highlighted their collections of Renoir works to mark the centenary of the artist’s death. In the United States, a special exhibit, “Renoir: the Body, the Senses,” was held at the Clark Art Institute in Massachusetts during the summer. The exhibit then moved to the Kimbell Art Museum in Texas, where it is showing until January 2020.

Madame Georges Charpentier and her Children by Pierre Auguste Renoir. Credit: Madame Georges Charpentier and her Children (1878), oil on canvas by Auguste Renoir; Metropolitan Museum of Art

In the 1870′s, Renoir and Claude Monet together developed the broken color technique of the Impressionists. Instead of mixing paints completely, they left small dabs of color in a sketchy manner. But Renoir was more interested in rich color effects and a sense of volume than Monet. Renoir also preferred figure painting to landscapes. During the 1870′s, he painted a large number of portraits on commission. Perhaps his most famous is Mme. Charpentier and Her Children. Many Impressionists brought Japanese qualities into their work. However, Renoir revived the rococo style of such artists as Francois Boucher and Jean Honore Fragonard.

The Swing, an Impressionist painting by Renoir, shows the effects of sunlight on figures set against an outdoor background. Credit: Oil painting on canvas (1876), Musee d’Orsay, Paris; Giraudon/Art Resource

Renoir visited Italy in 1881 and 1882. His study of Renaissance painters there led him to a new appreciation of the importance of line. He returned to France, where he gave up his broad, coloristic manner and spent several years concentrating on drawing. Renoir painted a famous series, The Bathers, during this time.

The happy quality of Renoir’s later work does not show the agony he suffered from arthritis, which finally crippled his hands. He had brushes tied to his hands and developed a final style of painting in broad brush strokes and vivid colors.

Renoir was born in Limoges, France, on Feb. 25, 1841. He was apprenticed to learn porcelain painting after he showed an early talent for drawing. He painted window shades and fans in Paris. He studied at Charles Gleyre’s studio. There, he met Monet and other young painters who were to form the Impressionist group. He was influenced also by Édouard Manet and the color methods of Eugene Delacroix. Renoir’s three sons were also artists, the most famous of whom was the film director Jean Renoir.

November 20, 2019

Yesterday, on November 19, the Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain, marked the 200th anniversary of its founding in 1819. Originally called the Royal Museum of Paintings and Sculptures, the museum later became the Museo Nacional del Prado (National Museum of the Prado), and grew into one of the world’s most celebrated art museums. The word prado means meadow in Spanish. Both the museum and Madrid’s Paseo del Prado boulevard are built on land that was once a meadow. The museum’s exhibits of Spanish paintings include many works by El Greco and Francisco Goya. The museum also displays paintings by the Spanish painter Diego Velázquez, including his masterpiece Las Meninas.

The Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain, opened 200 years ago in November 1819. Credit: © Anibal Trejo, Shutterstock

To mark the Prado’s 200th anniversary, the museum ran a special exhibition called “A Place of Memory” in the first 10 months of 2019. The exhibition showed how the museum changed but survived the often turbulent events of Spanish history, including the fall of Spain’s colonial empire, the Spanish Civil War, the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, and the country’s ultimate transition to democracy. The traveling exhibit “De gira por España” (On Tour in Spain) took many of the Prado’s precious works to museums throughout the country as part of the bicentenary celebration in 2019. At the same time, the exhibition “El Prado en las calles” (The Prado in the Streets) displayed the museum’s works in public spaces in the Philippines and in several cities in the Americas.

Las Meninas, a portrait of the Spanish royal family by Diego Velázquez, is one of the Prado’s most famous works. The artist united real and pictorial space by having the young princess look casually out of the composition, presumably toward her parents, who stand in the same position as the viewer. The painter shown at left is Velázquez himself. Credit: The Prado, Madrid, Spain (Erich Lessing, Art Resource)

Construction on the building that houses the Prado began in 1785. It was originally a museum of natural sciences. King Ferdinand VII of Spain converted it into the Royal Museum of Paintings and Sculptures. The museum’s initial collection contained more than 300 works by Spanish artists. The museum has been known as the Prado since 1868. The Prado’s collection has grown in size and variety over time, particularly after taking in works from the closure of two other museums—the Museo de la Trinidad, in 1872, and the Museo de Arte Moderno (Museum of Modern Art), in 1971. Extensions and renovations have greatly expanded and improved the Prado Museum’s space.

The Prado’s collection centers on European masterworks of the 1500’s through the 1800’s, but it also includes many ancient and modern works. In addition to paintings, the collection includes decorative arts, drawings, photographs, prints, and sculptures, as well as a large archive and library. Together with the nearby Reina Sofía and Thyssen-Bornemisza museums, the Prado forms Madrid’s “Golden Triangle of Art.”

August 2, 2019

Yesterday, August 1, was the 200th anniversary of the birth of the celebrated United States author Herman Melville, in 1819. Melville ranks among the major authors of American literature. He wrote Moby-Dick, one of the world’s great novels, and his reputation rests largely on this book. But many of his other works are literary creations of a high order—blending fact, fiction, adventure, and symbolism. Melville’s vast personal experience in faraway places was remarkable even in the footloose and exploratory world of the 1800′s. Melville brought to his extraordinary adventures a vivid imagination and a philosophical skepticism, as well as a remarkable skill in handling the evolving American language. Melville was born in New York City. He died there, too, on Sept. 28, 1891.

Herman Melville was born 200 years ago on Aug. 1, 1819. Credit: Library of Congress

A number of events are marking Melville’s 200th birthday anniversary in 2019. In June, the Melville Society hosted a commemorative conference called “Melville’s Origins” at New York University. In Pittsfield, Massachusetts, the Berkshire Historical Society is celebrating “Melville at 200” August 1 to 4 with the unveiling of a memorial plaque, a marathon reading of Moby-Dick, and events at Melville’s farm, Arrowhead (where Melville wrote Moby-Dick and other works). In Philadelphia, The Rosenbach museum’s exhibition “American Voyager: Herman Melville at 200” will display the author’s manuscripts, first editions, and whaling artifacts from October 2 through April 5, 2020.

This illustration from an early edition of Moby-Dick depicts the fearsome white whale. Credit: Public Domain

Melville lived his first 11 years in New York City. In 1831, his family moved to Albany, New York. Melville worked a variety of jobs before sailing to Liverpool, England, in 1837 as a cabin boy on a merchant ship. He described this trip in his novel Redburn. Melville returned to America and signed on as a seaman on the newly built whaling ship Acushnet for a trip in the Pacific Ocean. From this trip came the basic experiences recorded in several of his books, and above all, the whaling knowledge he put into Moby-Dick.

Melville sailed from New Bedford, Massachusetts, on Jan. 3, 1841. He stayed on the Acushnet for 18 months. After the ship put in at Nuka Hiva in the Marquesas Islands, he and a shipmate deserted. The two men headed inland until they came to the lovely valley of the Typees, a Polynesian tribe with a reputation as fierce cannibals. But the natives turned out to be gentle, charming hosts. Melville described his experiences with them in Typee.

Melville lived in the valley for about a month. He then joined another whaling ship, but he soon deserted it with other sailors in a semimutiny at Tahiti. After a few days in a local jail, Melville and a new friend began roaming the beautiful and unspoiled islands of Tahiti and Moorea. Melville described his life during these wanderings in the novel Omoo.

After short service on a third whaling ship, Melville landed at Hawaii, where he lived doing odd jobs. On Aug. 17, 1843, he enlisted as a seaman on the U.S. Navy frigate United States. He recounted his long voyage around Cape Horn in the novel White-Jacket. Melville arrived in Boston in October 1844. He was released from the Navy and headed home to Albany, his imagination overflowing with his adventures.

Melville wrote about his experiences so attractively that he soon became one of the most popular writers of his time. The books that made his reputation were Typee (1846); Omoo (1847); Mardi (1849), a complex allegorical romance set in the South Seas; Redburn (1849); and White-Jacket (1850).

Melville then began Moby-Dick, another “whaling voyage,” as he called it, similar to his successful travel books. He had almost completed the book when he met fellow author Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne inspired him to radically revise the whaling documentary into a novel of both universal significance and literary complexity.

Moby-Dick; or The Whale (1851), on one level, is the story of the hunt for Moby Dick, a fierce white whale supposedly known to sailors of Melville’s time. Captain Ahab is the captain of the whaling ship Pequod. He has lost a leg in an earlier battle with Moby Dick, and he is determined to catch the whale. The novel brilliantly describes the dangerous and often violent life on a whaling ship, and it includes information on the whaling industry and a discussion of the nature of whales. On another level, Moby-Dick is a deeply symbolic story. The whale symbolizes the mysterious and complex force of the universe, and Captain Ahab represents the heroic struggle against the limiting and crippling constrictions that confront an intelligent person.

Melville’s popularity began to decline with the publication of his masterpiece. The novel, either ignored or misunderstood by critics and readers, damaged Melville’s reputation as a writer. When Melville followed Moby-Dick with the pessimistic and tragic novel Pierre (1853), his readers began to desert him, calling him either eccentric or mad. The public was ready to accept unusual and exciting adventures, but they did not want ironic, frightening exposures of the terrible double meanings in life.

Melville turned to writing short stories. Two of them, “Benito Cereno” and “Bartleby the Scrivener,” rank as classics. But the haunting and disturbing question of the meaning of life that hovered over the stories also displeased the public. In 1855, Melville published Israel Potter, a novel set during the American Revolution (1775-1783). After The Confidence-Man (1856), a bitter satire on humanity, Melville gave up writing.

Melville worked as deputy inspector of customs in the Port of New York from 1866 until his retirement in 1885. He then began writing again. He died in 1891, leaving behind the manuscript of Billy Budd, Sailor. This short novel, first published in 1924 and considered Melville’s finest book after Moby-Dick, is a symbolic story about the clash between innocence and evil and between social forms and individual liberty.

The 1920′s marked the start of a Melville revival among critics and readers. By the 1940′s, Americans at last recognized his literary genius. His reputation has since spread throughout the world and continued to grow.

July 8, 2019

Since prehistoric times, people have depicted animals in their artwork. Ancient paintings and drawings of horses, oxen, and other animals appear on the ceilings, walls, and entrances of caves and rock shelters around the world. In more modern times, animals have continued to be a source of artistic inspiration. Many cultures have shown animals in artistic representations of rural life, as livestock, prey, or pets, or to illustrate legends and myths. Many cultures, too, include animals in art simply for their beauty or for their intimate connections with humans. At the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., a new exhibition is detailing “The Life of Animals in Japanese Art.”

These wooden sacred foxes are part of the “Life of Animals in Japanese Art” exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Credit: Sacred Foxes (Nanbokuch periods, 14th century), wood with pigments by unknown artist; National Gallery of Art

The Life of Animals in Japanese Art is the first exhibition devoted solely to animals at the National Gallery of Art. The exhibition shows animals—some real, some imaginary, some sacred, some merely beloved—in a wide variety of artistic mediums. The more than 300 works in block prints, ceramics, decorative arts, lacquerware, paintings, sculptures, and textiles span from the A.D. 400′s to the present day. The artworks—including seven designated as “Important Cultural Property” by the Japanese government—come from public and private collections in both Japan and the United States. The exhibition began on June 2, 2019, and runs through August 18.

These 1,000-year-old sacred monkeys are included in the “Life of Animals in Japanese Art” exhibition. Credit: Pair of Sacred Monkeys (Heian period, 11th century), wood with traces of pigment by unknown artist; Los Angeles County Museum of Art/National Gallery of Art

The sprawling exhibit occupies 18,000 square feet (1,700 square meters) of the National Gallery of Art’s East Building Concourse, and it is divided into various themed sections. The credited artists (many older works are unattributed) include the Zen Buddhist monk Sesson Shūkei (1504-1589), the painter Itō Jakuchū (1716-1800), and the painter and woodblock printer Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). Such modern artists as Kusama Yayoi (1929-…), the clothing designer Issey Miyake (1938-…), and the painter and sculptor Murakami Takashi (1960-…) are also represented.

The Life of Animals in Japanese Art is part of a series of events included in Japan 2019, an initiative to promote Japanese culture in the United States. Earlier Japanese art exhibitions took place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the Cleveland Museum of Art. The animal art exhibition will move to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in September, and a number of Japan-themed concerts, festivals, and performances are taking place in the United States throughout 2019.

June 7, 2019

In 2019, the 350th anniversary of the death of the Dutch artist Rembrandt is being celebrated as the “Year of Rembrandt” at the famous Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the capital and largest city of the Netherlands. Rembrandt is often considered the greatest Dutch artist in history. Rembrandt’s output of works of art was tremendous. Some scholars credit him with about 600 paintings, 300 etchings, and 1,400 drawings. Rembrandt was born on July 15, 1606. He died on Oct. 4, 1669.

Rembrandt’s self-portraits form a vivid record of his life. The portrait at left was completed in 1629. The portrait at right was finished in 1669, the year Rembrandt died. Credit: Self-Portrait with Gorget (1629), oil on oak panel by Rembrandt; Germanisches Nationalmuseum; Self-portrait (1669), oil on canvas by Rembrandt; Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis

The Rijksmuseum, which bills itself as the “museum of Rembrandt,” began the 350th anniversary of the artist’s death with “All the Rembrandts,” an exhibition of all the artist’s 22 paintings, 60 drawings, and more than 300 prints in the museum’s collection. The exhibition started February 15 and runs through June 10. Beginning in July, people will be able to watch (in person at the museum and online) the careful restoration of Rembrandt’s massive The Night Watch, his most famous work. Painted in 1642, The Night Watch has been the centerpiece of the Rijksmuseum’s collection since 1808.

On Oct. 11, 2019, the “Year of Rembrandt” will wrap up with “Rembrandt-Velázquez,” an exhibition (in association with the Prado Museum in Spain) that includes works by the Spanish artist Diego Velázquez (1599-1660). The two artists were Baroque contemporaries, and their works are often seen as complementary. (The Netherlands was part of the Kingdom of Spain from 1516 to 1648, and the Dutch struggle for independence took place during the lifetimes of Rembrandt and Velázquez.)

Rembrandt’s The Night Watch is one of 22 paintings included in the Rijksmuseum’s “Year of Rembrandt” celebration in 2019. Credit: Night Watch (1642), oil on canvas by Rembrandt; Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam)

Rembrandt was born in Leiden on July 15, 1606. His full name was Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. Rembrandt first studied art with an obscure Leiden painter from about 1621 to 1624. He then studied with the Dutch artist Pieter Lastman. About 1632, Rembrandt moved to Amsterdam, where he painted portraits of wealthy middle-class patrons. He remained there for the rest of his life, except for a few short trips within the Netherlands.

Christ at Emmaus (1648), also called Supper at Emmaus, is one of many works that Rembrandt created about the life of Jesus Christ. In this painting, Rembrandt portrays the resurrected Jesus revealing himself to two disciples seated at supper while a servant brings them food. The supper was held in the village of Emmaus, near Jerusalem, three days after Christ’s Crucifixion. Credit: © Peter Willi, SuperStock

The range of Rembrandt’s subjects is extraordinary. His works depict stories inspired by the Bible, history, and mythology. He also painted portraits, landscapes, nudes, and scenes of everyday life. Throughout his career, Rembrandt also made about 100 known self-portraits, in which he portrayed himself in various roles and contexts.

Rembrandt’s reputation rests on his power as a storyteller, his warm sympathy, and his ability to show the innermost feelings of the people he portrayed. His use of light and shadow and warm colors creates an atmosphere that enables us to share his profound understanding of the individual’s inner life. Few artists match his genius for showing the human aspect of Biblical characters, which he conveys through moving facial expressions and gestures.

May 3, 2019

On May 2, 1519—500 years ago yesterday—the famed Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci died at age 67 in the French town of Amboise. Leonardo, as he is almost always called, was one of the greatest painters and most versatile geniuses in history. He was also a key figure of the Renaissance, a great cultural movement that began in Italy in the 1300′s. His portrait Mona Lisa and his religious scene The Last Supper rank among the most famous pictures ever painted.

The Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci died 500 years ago yesterday on May 2, 1519. Credit: Red chalk (about 1514); Biblioteca Reale, Turin, Italy (© Ernani Orcorte, Alamy Images)

Exhibitions marking the 500th anniversary of Leonardo’s death are taking place in museums around the world, particularly in his native Italy. (Leonardo lived most of his life in Florence and Milan before moving to France late in life.) In Milan, “Leonardesque” events in 2019 include special presentations of The Last Supper at the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Leonardo codices (manuscript volumes) at the Ambrosiana Library and at Sforza Castle, and reproductions of machines designed by Leonardo at the Da Vinci National Museum of Science and Technology. Prominent events are also taking place in Florence, London, New York City, Paris, Turin, and in the Loire Valley surrounding Leonardo’s final residence at the Château du Clos Lucé in Amboise.

Leonardo da Vinci’s painting The Last Supper shows the final meal that Jesus shared with his 12 apostles. Credit: The Last Supper (1495-1497), fresco by Leonardo da Vinci; Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan, Italy (Bridgeman Images)

Leonardo was trained to be a painter. But his interests and achievements spread into an astonishing variety of fields that are now considered scientific specialties. Leonardo studied anatomy, astronomy, botany, geology, geometry, and optics, and he designed machines and drew plans for hundreds of inventions.

Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is probably the most famous portrait ever painted. Credit: Mona Lisa (1503-1506), oil on poplar wood by Leonardo da Vinci; Louvre Museum (Paris)

Because Leonardo excelled in such an amazing range of areas of human knowledge, he is often called a universal genius. However, he had little interest in literature, history, or religion. He formulated a few scientific laws, but he never developed his ideas systematically. Leonardo was most of all an excellent observer. He concerned himself with what the eye could see, rather than with purely abstract concepts. Leonardo was born on April 15, 1452, probably outside the village of Vinci, near Florence, in central Italy. The name da Vinci simply means from Vinci.

April 1, 2019

Today, April 1, marks 100 years since the founding of the influential school of design called the Bauhaus. The school was started in Weimar, Germany, in 1919 by the architect Walter Gropius. Formally called the Staatliches Bauhaus (State School of Building), the school had tremendous influence on modern art and design. The Bauhaus had a relatively short existence, however. The Nazi German government forced the school to close in 1933.

The Bauhaus was an important school of design founded by the German architect Walter Gropius 100 years ago on April 1, 1919. Credit: © Claudio Divizia, iStockphoto

The Bauhaus connected creative design with modern industry and science. Despite its name, the school did not initially offer courses in building (architecture). The school’s main emphasis was on applied arts (design and decoration of ordinary objects intended for use), and students were also instructed on painting and sculpture. Architecture, graphic design, and other arts were later included in the curriculum. The Bauhaus often trained artists as craftworkers or industrial designers, and the school stressed the importance of simple but aesthetically pleasing designs in all fields. The school’s influence is still widely seen in many aspects of modern design. Bauhaus teachers included such famous artists as Josef Albers, Lyonel Feininger, Paul Klee, and Wassily Kandinsky.

This chair, designed by the German architect and Bauhaus instructor Marcel Breuer in 1928, exemplifies the simple yet elegant applied arts taught at the school. Credit: Knoll International

The Bauhaus also pioneered in a new kind of art education. The students began their studies with a basic design course in which they learned principles of composition and color, and how to work with different materials. Similar courses have been adopted by art schools throughout the world. In 1925, the Bauhaus moved to Dessau because of government hostility in Weimar. The school was closed by the Nazis in 1932. It tried to reopen in Berlin, but was forced to close permanently in 1933.

In 1937, former Bauhaus teacher László Moholy-Nagy started a similar school of design in Chicago in the United States. This “New Bauhaus” continued the traditions of the original school. In 1944, the school was renamed the Institute of Design, and it became part of the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1949.