bauhaus faces

BONUS EPISODE with Daniel and Andreas Hug & Oliver Botar

In this bonus episode, we will look at the development of Moholy’s art through selected works — paintings, photographs, sculptures, and films that help trace his extraordinary artistic evolution. Once again, Moholy’s grandsons Daniel and Andreas Hug, together with the Canadian art historian Oliver Botar, guide us through his work.

SHOW NOTES https://www.bauhausfaces.com | @bauhausfacespodcast | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

Moholy-Nagy Foundation

CHAPTER IMAGES 1 Moholy-Nagy reviewing his notes at the opening of the New Bauhaus. Herbert Matter photograph, Chicago, 1937, © Moholy-Nagy Foundation 2 Landschaft mit Häusern, 1919, © Moholy-Nagy Foundation 3 Das große Rad (The Great Wheel), 1920, Van Abbemuseum, Eidhoven, © Moholy-Nagy Foundation 4 Ackerfelderbild (Tilled Fields Painting), 1920–21, Albertina, Vienna, on permanent loan from the Forsberg Collection, © Moholy-Nagy Foundation 5 Kreissegmente (Circle segments), 1921, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, © Moholy-Nagy Foundation 6 Architektur or Excentrische Konstruktion (Eccentric Construction), 1921, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, © Moholy-Nagy Foundation 7 Nickelplastik mit Spirale (Nickel Sculpture with Spiral), 1921, The Museum of Modern Art New York, © Moholy-Nagy Foundation 8 Konstruktion in Emaille 2 (Construction in Enamel 2) or Telephone Painting, 1922–23, Museum of Modern Art, New York, © Moholy-Nagy Foundation 9 Z VIII, 1924, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie, © Moholy-Nagy Foundation 10 A XXV, 1926, © Moholy-Nagy Foundation 11 László Moholy-Nagy: 7 a.m. (New Year’s morning), c. 1930, https://thecharnelhouse.org/2014/06/19/laszlo-moholy-nagy-painting-and-photography/laszlo-moholy-nagy-7-a-m-new-years-morning-c-1930/#main, © Moholy-Nagy Foundation 12 Großstadt-Zigeuner, 1932, © Moholy-Nagy Foundation, https://youtu.be/NH0C14gTx6o?si=hbOq0IKq6vtjdH3q 13 Berliner Stillleben, 1931–32, © Moholy-Nagy Foundation, https://youtu.be/1JbGMHdofwM?si=cZmublPl3pshWfBu 14 Architects’ Congress, 1933, © Moholy-Nagy Foundation, https://youtu.be/wJgfSM6b9g0?si=SPwVhg7WovhGiHFE 15 CH Beta 2, 1939, Private Collection, © Moholy-Nagy Foundation 16 Light Space Modulator a.k.a. Light Prop for an Electric Stage, 1930, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, © Moholy-Nagy Foundation 17 The New York World's Fair, white diagonal, New York, 1938, © Moholy-Nagy Foundation

PART 2 with Daniel and Andreas Hug & Oliver Botar

László Moholy-Nagy’s work is often associated with the Bauhaus years, photography, and the New Vision. Yet the second half of his life shows how far his ideas travelled beyond Dessau — and how they continued to evolve across different countries, media, and institutions. After leaving the Bauhaus, Moholy worked in Berlin as a freelance graphic and stage designer before the political situation in Germany forced him into exile.

This second part of the bauhaus faces episode follows Moholy first to the Netherlands, then to England, and finally to Chicago, where he became director of the New Bauhaus and explores Moholy not only as a former Bauhaus master, but as an artist, educator, and thinker whose ideas helped bring Bauhaus principles into a new international context. At the centre of Moholy’s work remained a profound interest in light, movement, space, new materials, and human perception.

Once again, Moholy’s grandsons Daniel and Andreas Hug, together with the Canadian art historian Oliver Botar, guide us through his life, work, and legacy.

SHOW NOTES https://www.bauhausfaces.com | @bauhausfacespodcast | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

Moholy-Nagy Foundation

FILMS AND LITERATURE László Moholy-Nagy: Ein Lichtspiel: Schwarz Weiß Grau (Light-Play: Black White Grey, 1930, https://moholy-nagy.org/art-database-detail/12

Alexander Korda: Things to Come (1936) H.G. Wells War film | A hundred years ahead of its time „Things to Come“, https://youtu.be/iwTDqHrJ4vc?si=4azQFqrd38fVk3p9

Sibyl Moholy-Nagy: Moholy-Nagy: Experiment in Totality, 1950

Oliver A. I. Botar: Sensing the Future: Moholy-Nagy, Media and the Arts, 2014

Hilde Heynen: Sibyl Moholy-Nagy: Architecture, Modernism and its Discontents (Bloomsbury Studies in Modern Architecture), London 2021

CHAPTER IMAGES Cover: Self portrait of László Moholy-Nagy, 1940s, Moholy Nagy Foundation

1 Self portrait of László Moholy-Nagy, 1940s, Collection of the Moholy-Nagy estate, © Moholy Nagy Foundation 2 Portraits of László and Sibyl Moholy-Nagy, Germany, 1930s, Collection of the Moholy-Nagy estate, © Moholy Nagy Foundation 3 László Moholy-Nagy: Cover of sales leaflet for Marcel Breuer’s Isokon Long Chair, 1937, Pritchard Papers, University of East Anglia, © Moholy Nagy Foundation 4 László Moholy-Nagy: László Moholy-Nagy: Quickly away, thanks to pneumatic doors, Advertisement for London Underground, 1937, The Museum of Modern Art, The Museum of Modern Art, © Moholy Nagy Foundation 5 László Moholy-Nagy: Special Effect for “Things to Come”, 1936, https://www.artsy.net/artwork/laszlo-moholy-nagy-special-effect-for-things-to-come, © Moholy Nagy Foundation 6 László Moholy-Nagy lecturing at Mills College, California, 1940, Collection of the Moholy-Nagy estate, © Moholy Nagy Foundation 7 László Moholy-Nagy: Space Modulation with Highlights, 1942, RISD Museum, Providence, © Moholy Nagy Foundation 8 László Moholy-Nagy: Leuk 4, 1945, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, © Moholy Nagy Foundation 9 László Moholy-Nagy: Photographs, 1937–1946, 35mm color slides, Estate chromogenic prints, Collection of the Moholy-Nagy estate, © Moholy Nagy Foundation 10 László Moholy-Nagy: Double Loop, 1946, Plexiglas, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, © Moholy Nagy Foundation 11 László Moholy-Nagy: Composition, 1946, Collection of the Moholy-Nagy estate, © Moholy Nagy Foundation

PART 1 with Daniel and Andreas Hug & Oliver Botar

László Moholy-Nagy is often associated above all with photography and the New Vision. Yet his work reaches far beyond this field. He was one of the great multimedia artists of the twentieth century — working with painting, photography, film, typography, stage design, and sculpture.

At the centre of Moholy’s practice was a profound interest in education. He did not see art as something separate from life. His work explored how art could mediate between new technology and human experience — and how it might teach us to see, think, and live differently.

This episode of bauhaus faces explores Moholy not only as the artist of the New Vision, but as an artist, educator, and thinker whose ideas helped shape modern visual culture.

Because Moholy’s work is so vast and varied, this story will be told in two parts. Part 1 focuses on his family background, his path toward becoming an artist, his Bauhaus years, and his later period in Berlin. Part 2 follows him to the Netherlands, England, and finally Chicago, where he became director of the New Bauhaus and helped bring Bauhaus ideas into an international conversation about art, design, technology, and education.

The episode features conversations with Moholy’s grandsons, Daniel and Andreas Hug, and with the Canadian art historian Oliver Botar. A bonus episode will accompany both parts, in which all three interview partners discuss selected works by Moholy — tracing his development from a young, self-taught painter to an internationally renowned artist and educator.

SHOW NOTES https://www.bauhausfaces.com | @bauhausfacespodcast | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

Moholy-Nagy Foundation

„Dynamic-constructive system of forces“ (Alfred Kemény and László Moholy-Nagy), Manifesto, in: Der Sturm, 1922, No. 12, English translation: https://monoskop.org/images/2/2b/Moholy-Nagy_Laszlo_Kemeny_Alfred_1922_Dynamic-Constructive_System_of_Forces.pdf

László & Lucia Moholy-Nagy: „Production Reproduction“, 1923, originally published in: De Stijl, Issue 5, No. 7, July 1922, pp. 98–101, English translation: https://monoskop.org/László_Moholy-Nagy/Produktion-Reproduktion_1922

László Moholy-Nagy: Ein Lichtspiel: Schwarz Weiß Grau (Light-Play: Black White Grey, 1930, https://moholy-nagy.org/art-database-detail/12

Sibyl Moholy-Nagy: Moholy-Nagy: Experiment in Totality, 1950

Oliver A. I. Botar: Sensing the Future: Moholy-Nagy, Media and the Arts, 2014

CHAPTER IMAGES 1 Hugo Erfurth: Portrait of László Moholy-Nagy, ca. 1930, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/LászlóMoholy-Nagy#/media/Datei:László_Moholy-Nagy_by_Hugo_Erfurth,_c._1930.jpg

2 László and Ákos, Szeged, 1912, Moholy Nagy Foundation, https://www.moholy-nagy.org/biography/

3 László Moholy-Nagy as an artillery officer cadet Budapest, Hungary, 1915, Moholy Nagy Foundation, https://www.moholy-nagy.org/photo-album/12

4 László Moholy-Nagy: Das große Rad (The Great Wheel), 1920, Van Abbemuseum, Eidhoven, Moholy Nagy Foundation, https://www.moholy-nagy.org/art-database-detail/56?prev=gallery

5 Berlin Potsdamer Platz, 1920s, http://www.kubiss.org/hkk-20er-jahre/alltag.html

6 László Moholy-Nagy: Metallkonstruktion mit Spirale, 1921, The Museum of Modern Art New York, Moholy Nagy Foundation, https://www.moholy-nagy.org/art-database-detail/100?prev=gallery

7 El Lissitzky: Proun (No. 2 from Kestnermappe), 1919–23, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://recherche.smb.museum/detail/1583783/proun-blatt-2-aus-der-1--kestnermappe

8 László Moholy-Nagy: Kinetic Constructive System: Structure with Moving Parts for Play and Conveyance, 1922, Moholy Nagy Foundation, https://www.moholy-nagy.org/art-database-detail/192?prev=gallery

9 László Moholy-Nagy: Photograms, 1920s–1940s, Moholy Nagy Foundation, https://moholy-nagy.org/photograms/

10 László Moholy-Nagy: Konstruktion in Emaille or Telephone Painting, 1922/23, https://moholy-nagy.org/art-database-detail/55?prev=gallery

11 László Moholy-Nagy in his atelier Weimar, 1923, Moholy Nagy Foundation, https://www.moholy-nagy.org/biography/

12 László Moholy-Nagy among his students at the Bauhaus metal workshop, ca. 1924, https://tecnolumen.de/das-bauhaus/

13 László Moholy-Nagy: 7 a.m. (New Year’s morning), c. 1930, https://thecharnelhouse.org/2014/06/19/laszlo-moholy-nagy-painting-and-photography/laszlo-moholy-nagy-7-a-m-new-years-morning-c-1930/#main

14 László Moholy-Nagy: Berlin Radio Tower, 1928–29, Moholy Nagy Foundation, https://www.moholy-nagy.org/art-database-detail/113?prev=gallery

15 László Moholy-Nagy: Double page from Malerei Photographie Film, Bauhaus book, 1923, https://exhibitions.letterformarchive.org/bauhaus/walkthroughs/typophoto-in-moholy-nagy-s-painting-photography-film

16 László Moholy-Nagy: Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffmann, Kroll Opera, Berlin 1929, https://theatron.hu/theatron_cikkek/performing-agitation-laszlo-moholy-nagy-and-the-1924-special-issue-of-ma-today-on-music-and-theater/#gallery-27

17 László Moholy-Nagy: Light Prop for an Electric Stage, 1930, https://moholy-nagy.org/art-database-detail/133?prev=gallery

18 László Moholy-Nagy: Ein Lichtspiel: Schwarz Weiß Grau (Light-Play: Black White Grey, 1930, https://moholy-nagy.org/art-database-detail/12

with Stefanie Pirker

Generally known as “the spy with a camera,” this episode asks: What do we see when we stop looking for the spy and start looking at her photographs, collages, and publications?

Edith Tudor-Hart has too often been seen through a story that is not primarily about her work, but about secrecy, politics, and the men around her. Several publications have linked her to the Cambridge Five, the group of British men who spied for the Soviet Union. It is a dramatic story. But it can easily overshadow everything else.

Once we move past this stereotype, we see a remarkable photographer of social realities: poverty, housing, health, children’s welfare, women’s health, and the sharp inequalities of 1920s and 30s Austria and Britain. We see a Bauhaus student, a communist, a migrant, a mother, and an artist who understood photography as a tool of social critique and education.

SHOW NOTES https://www.bauhausfaces.com | @bauhausfacespodcast | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

Support bauhaus faces on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/bauhausfaces or via https://www.bauhausfaces.com

Interview with Wolfgang Suschitzky

ON SPY ACTIVITY Secrete Service MI5: Soviet intelligence agents and suspected agents, 25 November 2002

Walter Ruttmann: Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Großstadt, 1927

EPISODES ON bauhaus faces ABOUT Hannes Meyerr with Dara Kiese and Thomas Flierl; Etel & Ernst Mittag with Michael Mittag; Tibor Weiner with Daniel Talesnik

LITERATURE ABOUT EDITH TUDOR-HART

• Daria Santini: A Woman Named Edith: Emigre, Photographer and Secret Agent – The Extraordinary Life of Edith Tudor Hart, 2026
• Stefanie Pirker: „Schlüssel zum Werk. Zur Deutung von Edith Tudor-Harts Scrapbook,“ in: Fotogeschichte, Heft 172, 2024
• Duncan Forbes (ed.): Edith Tudor-Hart: In the Shadow of Tyranny, 2013
• Peter Stephan Jungk: Die Dunkelkammern der Edith Tudor-Hart: Geschichten eines Lebens, 2015

CHAPTER IMAGES

01 Rudolf Bauer: Portrait of Edith Suschitzky, ca. 1928, © Wolf Suschitzky Estate, courtesy of FOTOHOF>Archive

02 Edith Tudor-Harts original negative boxes, © Dr. Stefanie Pirker

03 Bookshop Brüder Suschitzky, Vienna, © Wolf Suschitzky Estate, courtesy of FOTOHOF>Archive

04 Edith Tudor-Hart: Unemployed Workers’ Demonstration, Vienna, 1932, © Wolf Suschitzky Estate, courtesy of FOTOHOF>Archive

05 Edith Tudor-Hart: Edith Tudor-Hart, March for May Day, Landstrasse, Vienna, 1931, © Wolf Suschitzky Estate, courtesy of FOTOHOF>Archive

06 Edith Tudor-Hart: no title, Vienna, ca. 1930, © Wolf Suschitzky Estate, courtesy of FOTOHOF>Archive

07 Edith Suschitzky (right) with her cousin Karla (left) at the Bauhaus in Dessau, 1929–30, © Wolf Suschitzky Estate, courtesy of FOTOHOF>Archive

08 Edith Tudor-Hart: Scrapbook, pp. 86-87, Photo collage „Die Neue Frau der Zukunft,“ ca. 1929, © Wolf Suschitzky Estate, courtesy of FOTOHOF>Archive

09 Edith Suschitzky (?): Photo collage „Die Großstadt,“ ca. 1928, © Wolf Suschitzky Estate, courtesy of FOTOHOF>Archive

10 Walter Ruttmann: Poster of „Berlin. Die Sinfonie der Grossstadt“, 1927, IMDb

11 Edith Tudor-Hart: Cover „The Listener,“ 10 January 1934, Vol XI, Nr 261, British Library

12 Edith Tudor-Hart: Ferris Wheel, Vienna, ca. 1931, © Wolf Suschitzky Estate, courtesy of FOTOHOF>Archive

13 Edith Tudor-Hart, in: „Lilliput,“ April 1939, p. 426-427, British Library

14 Edith Suschitzky: „A University of Commercial Art,“ in: Commercial Art Magazine, March 1931, p. 113-114, British Library

15/16 Edith Tudor-Hart: Sausage Stall, Vienna, ca. 1931, © Wolf Suschitzky Estate, courtesy of FOTOHOF>Archive

17/18/19 Edith Tudor-Hart: „Hakenkreuze im Schatten", Vienna, ca. 1932 © Wolf Suschitzky Estate, courtesy of FOTOHOF>Archive

20/21 Edith Tudor-Hart: Isokon Flats Opening Party, 1934, © Wolf Suschitzky Estate, courtesy of FOTOHOF>Archive

22/24 Edith Tudor Hart & Grete Stern: The South London Hospital for Women and Children, 1934, p. 10, British Library

23 Grete Stern: Self-portrait, 1956, from: https://flashbak.com/grete-sterns-surreal-dreams-of-female-emancipation-384888/grete-stern-montage-photo-38/, in the public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73900080

25 Edith Tudor-Hart: Tommy on the Cover of Picture Post, 10th of August 1946, Getty Images

26 Edith Tudor-Hart: „A School Where Love is a Cure,“ in: Picture Post, 30th of April 1949, pp. 28-29, Getty Images

27 Edith Tudor-Hart, in: Amateur Photographer, 27 June 1956, pp. 612-613, British Library

28 Portrait of Edith Tudor-Hart, © Wolf Suschitzky Estate, courtesy of FOTOHOF>Archive

29 Wolfgang Suschitzky: Edith Tudor-Hart and Tommy, ca. 1936, © Wolf Suschitzky Estate, courtesy of FOTOHOF>Archive

30 Edith Tudor-Hart: Upton Country, Primary School, Kent, ca. 1950, © Wolf Suschitzky Estate, courtesy of FOTOHOF>Archive

31/32 Wolfgang Suschitzky: Edith Tudor-Hart and Tommy, ca. 1936, © Wolf Suschitzky Estate, courtesy of FOTOHOF>Archive

with Daniel Talesnik

In the early 1930s, a small group of young architects left the Bauhaus in Dessau and followed their teacher, Hannes Meyer, to the Soviet Union. They went in search of new possibilities for architecture—convinced that the ideas they had developed at the Bauhaus could find a future there. Their paths, however, would soon diverge in unexpected ways.

This episode returns to that group—often referred to as the Red Bauhaus Brigade—and focuses on two more members: Konrad Püschel and René Mensch. Picking up on my previous conversation with Daniel Talesnik about Tibor Weiner, we take a broader view of what it meant to continue architectural work across shifting political and geographic contexts.

SHOW NOTES https://www.bauhausfaces.com | @bauhausfacespodcast | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

Konrad Püschel: Wege eines Bauhäuslers. Erinnerungen und Ansichten. Anhaltische Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Dessau 1997. (Neuauflage: Taschen, Köln 2002, ISBN 978-3-910192-40-9)

Daniel Talesnik: The Itinerant Red Bauhaus, or the Third Emigration. (PhD Thesis in Architectural History and Theory, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University, New York, 2016.) In: ABE Journal (Architecture Beyond Europe), volume 11, 2017.[3]

Dong-Sam Sin: Die Planung des Wiederaufbaus der Städte Hamhung und Hungnam in Nordkorea durch die DAG-Städtebaubrigade der DDR von 1955–1962. Eine städtebaugeschichtliche Abhandlung aus der Sicht eines Zeitzeugen. wvb Wissenschaftlicher Verlag, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-96138-009-1.

Norbert Korrek: Konrad Püschel – Städtebauer in der Sowjetunion, Nordkorea und der DDR. In: Philipp Oswalt (Hrsg.): Hannes Meyers neue Bauhauslehre. Von Dessau bis Mexiko. Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel et al. 2019, ISBN 978-3-0356-1724-5, S. 483–496.

Doreen Mende: Hamhŭng’s Two Orphans (To Konrad Püschel). East German Internationalism in North-Korea Emerging through a Chronopolitical Lens, 2019, in: https://www.bauhaus-imaginista.org/articles/6100/hamhung-s-two-orphans-to-konrad-puschel/de/?0bbf55ceffc3073699d40c945ada9faf=cc330b7dc647fe55024dda7ca15eaa55

László Moholy-Nagy: The Architects’ Congress, 1933, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMYMq9Zdamg

Gregor Harbusch: „Bauhaus an Bord“, 2018 https://bauhauskooperation.de/kooperation/jubilaeumsarchiv/magazin/entdecke-das-bauhaus/bauhaus-an-bord

CHAPTER IMAGES

KONRAD PÜSCHEL

01 Podcast Logo: Portraits of Konrad Püschel and René Mensch

02 “Hannes Meyer Mluví” (Hannes Meyer with Konrad Püschel and Tibor Weiner on the right), in: Tvorba, October 8, 1931

03 Portrait of Konrad Püschel on the roof of the Bauhaus in Dessau, ca. 1927, Collection of Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, © (Püschel, Konrad) Heirs to Konrad Püschel

04/05 Konrad Püschel & Leo Wassermann: Collective Farm Vogelgesang Elbe, 1930, in: Hideo Tomita: Soviet and East German influence on collective farming in 1950s North Korea: Bauhaus graduate Konrad Püschel and the case of LPG Joyang, Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering, 2025, DOI: 10.1080/13467581.2025.2542305

06 Konrad Püschel: Perspective of Orsk, Konrad Püschel, 1935, gta Archiv, Zürich

07 GDR task force and their families in Hamhŭng with Konrad Püschel, c. 1958, Source: photoarchive Matthias and Hannelore Schubert (German task force Hamhung), Wismar D, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76324777

08 Konrad Püschel: Hamhŭng, Zentraler Platz, 2008, Flickr, Foto: © Moravius

09 Re-opening of the Bauhaus in Dessau, 1976, https://www.mz.de/lokal/dessau-rosslau/bauhaus-in-dessau-friedrich-konrad-puschel-liess-das-bauhaus-wieder-in-altem-glanz-erstrahlen-1269098

10 Ludwig Hilberseimer & Uni Kassel: Mixed housing, visualization for Dessau-Törten, http://bauhausbauen.de/geschichte/

RENÉ MENSCH

01/02 Portrait of René Mensch by unknown photographer, ca. 1930, in: Konrad Püschel: Die Tätigkeit der Gruppe Hannes Meyer in der UdSSR in den Jahren 1930 bis 1931, https://www.db-thueringen.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/dbtderivate00042384/Pueschel_pdfa.pdf

03 Richard Neutra, Arieh Sharon, René Mensch and others: Charkov State Theatre, 1931, https://www.ariehsharon.org/KibbutzBauhaus/BauhausDessau/Charkov-State-Theatre/i-5qjx9Xq

04 “Hannes Meyer Mluví” (Hannes Meyer with Konrad Püschel and Tibor Weiner on the right), in: Tvorba, October 8, 1931

05/08 René Mensch: Sabet Pasal Palace, 1961, Source: Tasnim News Agency, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72758516

06/07 Portrait of René Mensch by unknown photographer, ca. 1930, in: Konrad Püschel: Die Tätigkeit der Gruppe Hannes Meyer in der UdSSR in den Jahren 1930 bis 1931, https://www.db-thueringen.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/dbtderivate00042384/Pueschel_pdfa.pdf

09 Podcast Logo: Portraits of Konrad Püschel and René Mensch

A new episode of bauhaus faces is out now. This time, I’m joined by Chilean architect and historian Daniel Talesnik to explore the story of a remarkable group of Bauhaus students—through the life of one of them: Tibor Weiner.

Weiner was part of the circle around Hannes Meyer, the second director of the Bauhaus—a group often referred to as the “Red Bauhaus Brigade.” After Meyer’s dismissal in 1930, he relocated to the Soviet Union, and a number of his students followed, hoping to continue their work and ideals abroad.

In our conversation, Daniel traces what he calls the “Itinerant Red Bauhaus" or "The Third Emigration,” following these architects as their paths diverged across the Soviet Union, and beyond. At the center is Weiner’s own journey—from Moscow to Paris, on to Chile, and eventually back to his home Hungary after the Second World War. His story reflects the broader reality many of them faced: architecture not just as a discipline, but as a means of survival in a century marked by political upheaval.

Daniel and I will be back soon with a bonus episode, taking a closer look at other Red Bauhaus Brigade members Konrad Püschel (who was sent to North Korea), René Mensch (who ended up in Iran), and Philipp Tolziner (who was imprisoned for 10 years in a Soviet Gulag and then became one of the first monument preservationists of the Soviet Union).

You can find the episode now wherever you listen to podcasts—and if you enjoy bauhaus faces, please consider leaving a 5-star-review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts or sharing it with someone who might be interested.

SHOW NOTES https://www.bauhausfaces.com | @bauhausfacespodcast | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

[Daniel Talesnik: The Itinerant Red Bauhaus, or the Third Emigration, 2016

Daniel Talesnik: "Moving Away to the Other End of the World: Reflections on the Letters Between Tibor Weiner and Hannes Meyer from the DAM Archive", 2019

Tatiana Efrussi: _Hannes Meyer: Soviet Architect. Life and Work in the USSR, 1930–1936_, 2025](https://vernonpress.com/book/2222?srsltid=AfmBOorYsErRw9JadWblBKymuawZkcjLbhokMj7P6JvpzGc2_7LTe6Xl)

Astrid Volpert & Anja Guttenberger: "Gelobt, Verurteilt, Vergessen, Wiederentdeckt – 62 Bauhäusler*innen im Land der Sowjets", 2019

Philipp Tolziner: "Mit Hannes Meyer am Bauhaus und in der Sowjetunion", in: Hannes Meyer 1889–1954: Architekt, Lehrer, Urbanist, 1989, pp. 234-263

Tibor Weiner Papers at the Mai Magyar Építészet, Budapest

CHAPTER IMAGES 1/2 Portrait of Tibor Weiner, © Weiner Family Archive 3 Tibor Weiner & Philipp Tolziner: Community Dwellings for Workers in a Socialized State, 1930, in: Hannes Meyer 1889–1954: Architekt, Lehrer, Urbanist, 1989 4 Natja Catalan, Tibor Weiner, Philipp Tolziner, Konrad Püschel, Margarete Mengel, Lilya Polgar, Anton Urban – members of the “Red Bauhaus Brigade” in Moscow, unknown photographer, https://thecharnelhouse.org/tag/bela-scheffler/#jp-carousel-9752 5 Tibor Weiner, Konrad Püschel & Philipp Tolziner with Hannes Meyer (consultant): Competition project for the Palace of the Soviets, 1931, https://cloud-cuckoo.net/fileadmin/hefte_de/heft_39/artikel_Kazhar_Solkiewicz-Kos_Zadworny.pdf 6 Hans Schmidt: Design of Orsk, ca. 1933, in: Marco de Michelis/Ernesto Pasini: La città sovietica 1925–1937, Venedig 1976, https://architekturbasel.ch/hans-schmidt-ein-basler-architekt-in-stalins-reich/ 7 Letter from Tibor Weiner to Hannes Meyer, 06.03.1938, DAM Archive 8 Tibor Weiner: Fire department in Chillan, Photo by Gonzalo Vargas Malinowski, https://www.dw.com/de/die-bauhaus-revolution-in-chile/a-42915382 9 Tibor Weiner: Dunaújváros, Hungary, © Intercisa Múzeum, https://www.diepresse.com/1350779/dunaujvaros-eine-ungarische-retortenstadt-fuer-stalin#slide-1-1 10 Portrait of Tibor Weiner in Dunaújváros, 1950s, © Weiner Family Archive

In our first episode of 2026, we turn the spotlight on Florence Henri. Drawn to the Bauhaus less by its curriculum than by its people, Henri discovered photography through Lucia Moholy and never looked back. What began as an experiment became a radical reinvention: mirrors, props, fractured spaces — images that redefined modern photography. Henri stayed fiercely artistic, while mentoring a generation of women who would go on to shape the medium themselves: Dora Maar, Lisette Model, Gisèle Freund, Ilse Bing, and more.

In this episode I was joined by the head of the Florence Henri Archive Giovanni Battista Martini, art historian Paola Rosina, and curator Roberto Lacarbonara — in a truly Bauhaus-style multilingual conversation, recorded in Switzerland and brought to you in English. And there’s more to come: bonus episodes with deep dives into Henri’s most iconic photographs, and the full original interview in French/English.

🎧 Listen on bauhausfaces.com or on all major podcast platforms!

SHOW NOTES

https://www.bauhausfaces.com | @bauhausfacespodcast | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

29.8. – 10.1.2027 Exhibition on Florence Henri at Zentrum Paul Klee, Berne

OTHER PODCASTS

LUCIA MOHOLY | Robin Schuldenfrei

PAUL KLEE | Fabienne Eggelhöfer

ANNI & JOSEF ALBERS | Brenda Danilowitz

LITERATURE ABOUT FLORENCE HENRI

Ann und Jürgen Wilde: Florence Henri-Sammlung. Sprengel Museum Hannover, Hannover 1993

Muriel Rausch (Hrsg.): Florence Henri. Miroir des avant-gardes (1927–1940). Éditions Photosynthèses, Arles 2015

Anja Guttenberger: Florence Henri, p. 72–87, in: Fotografische Selbstportraits der Bauhäusler zwischen 1919 und 1933, PhD thesis, 2012, https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/bitstream/handle/fub188/8338/DissAnjaGuttenberger.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Anja Guttenberger: Florence Henri, https://bauhauskooperation.de/wissen/das-bauhaus/koepfe/biografien/biografie-detail/person-Henri-Florence-494

Annette Bußmann: Florence Henri, in: FemBio. Frauen-Biographieforschung, https://www.fembio.org/biographie.php/frau/biographie/florence-henri/

Works of Florence Henri at the ICP (International Center of Photography) https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/florence-henri

Works at Centre Pompidou https://collection.centrepompidou.fr/artworks/authors/HENRI%20Florence↹HENRI%20Florence?page=4

PODCAST LOGO Detail from Florence Henri’s self-portrait in a mirror with balls, 1928, Florence Henri Archive / © Galleria Martini e Ronchetti

CHAPTER IMAGES

• Florence Henri: Self-portrait, 1930, Florence Henri Archive / © Galleria Martini e Ronchetti, https://www.artnet.com/artists/florence-henri/self-portrait-pWVR-MrGZ9-Wao3faHmddQ2
• Portrait of Florence Henri, 1975, Galerie m https://www.galerie-m.com/artist_bio.php?aid=63&aname=FlorenceHenri
• Florence Henri, 1926, Florence Henri Archive / © Galleria Martini e Ronchetti, https://hundredheroines.org/featured/women-in-abstraction-florence-henri/
• Birthday celebration of Florence Henri at the Bauhaus in Dessau, 30 June 1927, Florence Henri Archive / © Galleria Martini e Ronchetti, in: Musée d’Art Moderne de la ville de Paris: Florence Henri. Photographies 1927–1938, Paris 1978
• Florence Henri: Portraits of Margarete Schall, 1928, Florence Henri Archive / © Galleria Martini e Ronchetti, https://www.amazedmag.de/august-sander-und-florence-henri-der-pinakothek-der-moderne/
• Florence Henri: Windows (Bauhaus Dessau), 1927, Florence Henri Archive / © Galleria Martini e Ronchetti, https://journals.openedition.org/transbordeur/1085?lang=en
• Florence Henri: Industrial and urban landscape, 1924, © Galleria Martini e Ronchetti, https://www.lempertz.com/de/kataloge/kuenstlerverzeichnis/detail/henri-florence.html
• Florence Henri: Abstract composition, 1929, © Galleria Martini e Ronchetti, https://www.artsy.net/artwork/florence-henri-still-life-composition-2
• Florence Henri: Self-portrait, 1928, Florence Henri Archive / © Galleria Martini e Ronchetti, https://artblart.com/tag/florence-henri-self-portrait-in-a-mirror/
• Florence Henri: Still life composition, 1928–30, MoMA, © Galleria Martini e Ronchetti, https://www.moma.org/collection/works/83777
• Self-portrait and still life by Florence Henri published in i10. internationale revue, Dec. 1928, https://www.oursphotomag.com/blog/florence-henri-1920
• Florence Henri: Advertisement for Jeanne Lanvin perfume, 1929, V&A Museum, © Galleria Martini e Ronchetti
• Florence Henri: Portrait composition (Von Von), 1937, Florence Henri Archive / © Galleria Martini e Ronchetti, https://photography-now.com/exhibition/135835
• Florence Henri: Composition, The Glory that was Greece, c. 1933, Photomontage, Florence Henri Archive / © Galleria Martini e Ronchetti, https://artblart.com/tag/florence-henri-self-portrait-1928/
• Florence Henri: Composition, 1931, Florence Henri Archive / © Galleria Martini e Ronchetti, https://www.artnet.com/artists/florence-henri/nature-morte-still-life-composition-a-jlrV54pyFa_tqkC-LHkVwQ2
• Florence Henri: Self-portrait, 1938, Florence Henri Archive / © Galleria Martini e Ronchetti, https://artblart.com/tag/florence-henri-self-portrait-1928/
• Florence Henri: Portrait of Lore Krüger, 1937, Florence Henri Archive / © Galleria Martini e Ronchetti, https://www.artsy.net/artwork/florence-henri-portrait-composition-portrait-of-lore-kruger
• Florence Henri: Self-portrait with balls, 1938, Florence Henri Archive / © Galleria Martini e Ronchetti, https://www.atlasgallery.com/exhibition/florence-henri

In this very short episode, Giovanni Battista Martini, head of the Florence Henri Archive in Genoa, and the Italian art historians Paola Rosina and Roberto Lacarbonara will describe their favourite photo by Florence Henri in more detail for you. Please look out for the images on your smartphone or tablet while listening. As always, I added the photos to the chapters.

🎧 Listen on bauhausfaces.com or on all major podcast platforms!

SHOW NOTES

https://www.bauhausfaces.com | @bauhausfacespodcast | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

COVER PHOTO

Florence Henri: Self-portrait, 1930, Florence Henri Archive / © Galleria Martini e Ronchetti

CHAPTER IMAGES

Florence Henri: "Portrait composition" (Von Von), 1937, Florence Henri Archive / © Galleria Martini e Ronchetti

Florence Henri: "Femme aux cartes," 1930, Florence Henri Archive / © Galleria Martini e Ronchetti

Florence Henri: "Fênetre" (Windows, Bauhaus Dessau), 1927, Florence Henri Archive / © Galleria Martini e Ronchetti

BONUS EPISODE – FRANCAIS

Deuxième épisode bonus de bauhaus faces — et une conversation résolument multilingue !

Autour de la peintre et photographe Florence Henri, j’échange avec Giovanni Battista Martini, Paola Rosina et Roberto Lacarbonara dans un dialogue mêlant français et anglais, fidèle à l’esprit du Bauhaus et au croisement des cultures.

Il existe également un épisode principal entièrement en anglais, ainsi qu’un premier bonus en anglais dans lequel les trois invités présentent et analysent chacun leur photographie préférée de Florence Henri.

Un triptyque d’épisodes pour explorer en profondeur l’œuvre et l’héritage de Florence Henri — entre langues, perspectives et regards passionnés.

🎧 Écoutez sur bauhausfaces.com ou sur toutes les principales plateformes de podcasts !

SHOW NOTES

https://www.bauhausfaces.com | @bauhausfacespodcast | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

COVER PHOTO

Florence Henri: Self-portrait, 1928, Florence Henri Archive / © Galleria Martini e Ronchetti

CHAPTER IMAGES

The last episode of 2025 is here! And it's about Ludwig Hilberseimer. Never heard of him? No problem! bauhaus faces will help you out.

Only few of the houses Hilberseimer planned were built. He was much more concerned about the bigger picture: How does the modern city, especially the metropolis, need to be organized to meet people's needs? His futuristic-looking draft of a Highrise City from 1924 with floating bridge pavements high above the streets, skyscrapers as apartment buildings, and a plant-less, sterile surrounding was certainly a real shocker. A "necropolis" rather than a metropolis. That high-rise apartment buildings would soon become reality, only a few of his contemporaries of the 1920s believed.

With the help of the architectural historians Ute Poerschke and Kevin Harrington we will shine a light on Ludwig Hilberseimer.

🎧 Listen on bauhausfaces.com or on all major podcast platforms!

SHOW NOTES https://www.bauhausfaces.com | @bauhausfacespodcast | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

LITERATURE BY LUDWIG HILBERSEIMER Ludwig Hilberseimer: Grossstadtbauten, 1926 Behrens, Peter & Deutscher Werkbund (Ed.): Bau und Wohnung: die Bauten der Weißenhofsiedlung in Stuttgart errichtet 1927 nach Vorschlägen des Deutschen Werkbundes im Auftrag der Stadt Stuttgart und im Rahmen der Werkbundausstellung "Die Wohnung" — Stuttgart, 1927

LITERATURE ABOUT LUDWIG HILBERSEIMER Ute Poerschke: "Bauhaus architecture and daylight studies," 2024 Kevin Harrington: "Ideas in action: Hilberseimer and the redevelopment of the South Side of Chicago," in: Richard Pommer, David A. Spaeth & Kevin Harrington (eds.): In the shadow of Mies: Ludwig Hilberseimer, architect, educator, and urban planner, Chicago: Art Institute & Rizzoli, 1988 Florian Strob (ed.): Architect of Letters. Reading Hilberseimer, 2022 Ludwig Hilberseimer: Die neue Stadt. Prinzipien der Planung, Kommentierte Ausgabe, 2023

ARCHITECTURE BY LUDWIG HILBERSEIMER https://www.bildindex.de/

FILM "Das wachsende Haus" (The growing house), 2020

PODCAST EPISODES Otti Berger with Judit Raum, 2024 Mies van der Rohe PART 1 with Wita Noack & Fritz Neumeyer Mies van der Rohe PART 2 with Aya Soika

CHAPTER IMAGES 1/2 Portrait of Ludwig Hilberseimer, https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/urbanism-bauhaus-ludwig-hilberseimer 3 Ludwig Hilberseimer: Highrise City (Hochhausstadt), 1924, https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/urbanism-bauhaus-ludwig-hilberseimer 4 Ludwig Hilberseimer & Heinrich Kosina; Rheinlandhaus, 1927, destroyed in 1966, Bildarchiv Foto Marburg / unknown photographer, c. 1920/1939?, Fotokonvolut: Archiv Dr. Franz Stoedtner, CC BY-SA 4.0 Namensnennung - Weitergabe unter gleichen Bedingungen 4.0 International 5 House by Ludwig Hilberseimer at the Weißenhof estate, 1927, Bildarchiv Foto Marburg / Foto: Lossen, Otto; Aufn.-Datum: um 1920/1939?; Fotokonvolut: Archiv Dr. Franz Stoedtner, CC BY-SA 4.0 Namensnennung - Weitergabe unter gleichen Bedingungen 4.0 International 6 Ludwig Hilberseimer: Plan for Dessau-Törten, 1930, https://archplus.net/de/das-wachsende-bauhaus-geht-auf-wanderschaft/ 7 Ludwig Hilberseimer: The growing house (das wachsende Haus), 1932, https://archplus.net/de/das-wachsende-bauhaus-geht-auf-wanderschaft/ 8 Hannes Meyer & Hans Wittwer: Competition for the ADGB Trade Union School with solar studies on the side, 1928, https://www.bauhaus-denkmal-bernau.de/bundesschule/ludwig-hilberseimer.html 9 Ludwig Hilberseimer and Mies van der Rohe, 1940, https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/urbanism-bauhaus-ludwig-hilberseimer 10 Portrait of Walter Peterhans, photo by Heinrich Koch, no date, https://deu.archinform.net/arch/48400.htm 11 Photograph of Ludwig Hilberseimer and faculty and student members of the Illinois Institute of Technology architecture program, photo by George W. Larson, ca. 1940/41 12 Mies, Hilberseimer & Caldwell: Plan for Lafayette Park, Detroit, 1956, https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Figura-37-Planta-de-Lafayette-Park-Detroit-Mies-Hilberseimer-y-Caldwell-1956-Figurefig11310834479 13 Portrait of Ludwig Hilberseimer, n.d., https://repository.iit.edu/islandora/object/islandora%3A15142

In this new episode of bauhaus faces, we dive into the life and work of Hans Fischli. Often overlooked in broader Bauhaus stories, Fischli worked across architecture, painting, sculpture, and teaching—leaving a mark that’s still felt today.

To get a sense of his impact, I spoke with the people who knew him best: his son, the artist Peter Fischli; his grandson, curator Fredi Fischli, who is currently preparing an exhibition on Hans Fischli at Zentrum Paul Klee in Berne; and his granddaughter, the artist Gina Fischli. Together, they share personal stories and reflections on their (grand-)father’s architectural and artistic work.

🎧 Listen on bauhausfaces.com or on all major podcast platforms!

SHOW NOTES https://www.bauhausfaces.com | @bauhausfacespodcast | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

EXHIBITION OF HANS FISCHLI'S WORK JAN 24 2026 bis APRIL 26, 2026 AT ZENTRUM PAUL KLEE

GLOSSARY "Schlehstud" – name for Fischli’s first house, built in 1933 Reihenhaus – town house, terraced house Goldküste – gold coast Bauzonen – building zones Baugrube – building pit Filetstück – filet piece (which means the best piece of them all) Verkehrswege – traffic paths (the ways that you use to move around in a building) Gesinnung – state of mind, mindset Maßanzug anziehen – to put on a tailor-made suit Siedlung – estate, settlement Landesausstellung „Landi“ – National exhibition Chef-Adjutant – chief assistant Rekrutenschule – recruit training Planungsstab – planning department Heimatstil – local, folklore style Gartenbauausstellung – Gardening exhibition geistiger Widerstand – intellectual resistance Unaufgeregte Moderne – unagitated modernity Kunstgewerbeschule – School of Applied Arts, Zurich Wettbewerb – competition

LITERATURE ABOUT HANS FISCHLI Christa Zeller: „"Die Zeit der Baukünstler ist vorbei’: Zum architektonischen Werk von Hans Fischli“, in: Werk, Bauen + Wohnen, issue 76, No. 6, 1989, https://www.e-periodica.ch/digbib/view?pid=wbw-004:1989:76::1748#646

Karl Jost: Hans Fischli. Architekt, Maler, Bildhauer, Zürich: gta, 1992

Hans Fischli. Meilen, Ortsmuseum Meilen, 1990

Hans Fischli: Rapport bebildert, Zürich, 1978

TV INTERNIEWS WITH HANS FISCHLI Karussell, 22 Sep 1981, SRF

Das Monatsmagazin, „Die drei Berufe des Hans Fischli“, 17 Oct 1979, SRF,

WORKS AND LETTERS BY HANS FISCHLI https://www.sik-isea.ch/de-ch/Über-uns

COVER PHOTO Portrait of Hans Fischli, https://www.baukultur-waedenswil.ch/fischli-hans.html

CHAPTER IMAGES 01/02 Portrait of Hans Fischli, https://www.baukultur-waedenswil.ch/fischli-hans.html 03 Hans Fischli: Zellengebilde, 1929, https://teojakob.ch/de/aktuell/hans-fischli/ 04 Neubühl housing estate, Zurich, 1932, Stadt Zürich, public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1607352 05 Hans Fischli: „Schlehstud“ House, Obermeilen, 1933, by Port(uo)s, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28060617 06 Hans Fischli: Workers’ settlement „Gwad“, Wädenswil, 1943, https://www.baukultur-waedenswil.ch/anhang-architektenlexikon-der-schweiz-1998-2077.html 07 Hans Fischli: Zig zag north facade of the Feller AG, 1953, by Port(uo)s, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28060617 08 Landi, 1939, Stadt Zürich, public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1607352 09 Hans Fischli in his studio, 1944, Schweizerisches Kunstarchiv, https://www.sik-isea.ch/it-ch/Archivio-darte-Biblioteca/Archivio-darte/Fondi-archivistici/Vetrina-virtuale/Details/content/2475 10 Hans Fischli and employees of his office, ca. 1940, Schweizerisches Kunstarchiv, https://www.sik-isea.ch/it-ch/Archivio-darte-Biblioteca/Archivio-darte/Fondi-archivistici/Vetrina-virtuale/Details/content/2475

In the latest episode of “bauhaus faces,” we dive into the remarkable story of another iconic Bauhaus couple: Anni and Josef Albers. Their lives and legacies are deeply intertwined— from their first meeting in 1922 in Weimar to their lasting impact on art, design, and education in the US.

Anni, who would later shortly lead the weaving workshop at the Bauhaus and then at Black Mountain College, and Josef, a visionary "young master" of the preliminary course, fled Nazi persecution in 1933. In the U.S., they helped shape the Black Mountain College and continued to innovate—Anni in textiles and jewelry, Josef in teaching and painting. Inspired by their travels to Mexico and their love for geometric forms, their art resonates to this day.

Join me and Brenda Danilowitz, Chief Curator of The Josef & Anni Albers Foundation, as we explore the incredible journey of this Bauhaus power couple.

SHOW NOTES https://www.bauhausfaces.com | @bauhausfacespodcast | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

The Josef & Anni Albers Foundation | @albersfoundation (Instagram)

PHOTOS BY JOSEF ALBERS https://www.albersfoundation.org/art/highlights/andreas-grote-frühjahr-30-mama-andreas-grote-spring-30-mother | https://www.albersfoundation.org/art/highlights/tenayuca-mexico_1976-7-632 | https://www.albersfoundation.org/art/highlights/aspen-summer-51

ANJA GUTTENBERGER: „Festive and Theatrical. The Mask Photos of Gertrud Arndt and Josef Albers as an Expression of Festival Culture“, https://www.bauhaus-imaginista.org/articles/4273/festive-and-theatrical

HOMAGE TO THE SQUARE SERIES https://www.albersfoundation.org/art/highlights/study-for-homage-to-the-square-lone-light

JOAQUÍN BARRIENDOS: „Josef Albers and the Pre-Columbian Artisan“, https://www.bauhaus-imaginista.org/articles/6263/josef-albers-and-the-pre-columbian-artisan

JEAN CHARLOT: „Nature and the Art of Josef Albers,” College Art Journal 15, no. 3, Spring 1956, https://http://vault.jeancharlot.org/english-texts/1956%20Nat%20Art%20Albers.pdf

MEANDER WEAVINGS https://www.albersfoundation.org/art/highlights/red-meander | https://www.albersfoundation.org/art/highlights/black-white-gold-i

JEWELRY BY ANNI ALBERS https://www.albersfoundation.org/tags/jewelry

BRENDA DANILOWITZ, "Working From Where We Are – Anni Albers’ and Alex Reed’s Jewelry Collection", https://www.bauhaus-imaginista.org/articles/3094/working-from-where-we-are

DIY: Washer and ribbon neon necklace tutorial http://maikonagao.blogspot.com/2013/04/diy-washer-and-ribbon-neon-necklace.html

STEN NADOLNY, "ULLSTEINROMAN" (2003): ⁠https://www.ullstein.de/werke/ullsteinroman/taschenbuch/9783548269863⁠

COVER PHOTO: Josef and Anni Albers in Dessau, Germany, ca. 1925, Photographer unknown, Courtesy the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation

Bauhaus student

She was more than a textile designer—Léna Meyer-Bergner was a force for education and for social change. While her husband, Hannes Meyer, is often remembered as the Bauhaus’ second director, Lena’s groundbreaking work in design, pedagogy, and social transformation is finally stepping into the spotlight.

In this episode, I sat down with two leading art historians – Sandra Neugärtner and Viridiana Zavala – to explore the unknown story of Léna Meyer-Bergner. From her studies at the Bauhaus to her visionary approach to modernism in the Soviet Union and on to her graphic talent in exile in Mexico, we explore how her work evolved.

🎧 Listen now and discover why Léna Meyer-Bergner deserves a place at the center of Bauhaus history.

SHOW NOTES https://www.bauhausfaces.com | @bauhausfacespodcast | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

Website of Sandra Neugärtner’s research project](https://sandra-neugaertner.com/projects/) @virizavalar

PUBLICATIONS BY SANDRA NEUGÄRTNER Sandra Neugärtner: “From Revolution to Reformation...“, in From Posada to Isotype..., ed. B. Buchloh, Madrid: Museo Reina Sofia, 2022 Sandra Neugärtner: „Die Sozialisierung des Wissens und das Streben nach Deutungsmacht – Lena Bergners Transfer der Isotype nach Mexiko“, 2018 Sandra Neugärtner: “Anti-fascist Exile, Political Print Media...“, in: History of Communism in Europe, 2023

PUBLICATIONS BY VIRIDIANA ZAVALA Viridiana Zavala: „La Bauhaus en el Taller de Gráfica Popular y el CAPFCE. Obras, exposiciones y gestión cultural de Hannes Meyer y Léna Bergner“, 2023, PhD thesis Viridiana Zavala: „Lena Bergner y el diseño textil como reflejo del pensamiento de la arquitectura moderna. Imágenes textiles en la revista ‚Arquitectura y decoración‘“, 2016, Master thesis

OTHER PUBLICATIONS ABOUT LÉNA MEYER-BERGNER Fabienne Eggelhöfer: "Shifting, Rotating, Mirroring – Lena Bergner’s Minutes of Paul Klee’s Classes", 2018 María Montserrat Farías Barba, Marco Santiago Mondragón / Viridiana Zavala Rivera: "Lena Bergner – From the Bauhaus to Mexico", 2018 Marion von Osten: "A Migratory Life—from Dessau to Moscow to Mexico Hannes Meyer and Lena Bergner and the Arts", 2018 Raquel Franklin: "Of Art and Politics – Hannes Meyer and the Workshop of Popular Graphics", 2018 Helga Prignitz: TGP. Ein Grafiker-Kollektiv in Mexico von 1937–1977, 1981

WORKS BY LENA MEYER-BERGNER National Gallery, Australia Harvard Art Museum, USA

COVER PHOTO Portrait of Léna Meyer-Bergner (detail), 1942, private estate

CHAPTER IMAGES 1 Portrait of Léna Meyer-Bergner and Lilo Meyer, 1942, private estate 2 Lena Meyer-Bergner: Carpet design, Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, © Heirs of Lena Meyer-Bergner (https://www.bauhaus-imaginista.org/articles/1489/shifting-rotating-mirroring) 3 Natja Catalan, Tibor Weiner, Philipp Tolziner, Konrad Püschel, Margarete Mengel, Lilya Polgar, Anton Urban – members of the “Hannes Meyer architectural group” in Moscow, mid-1930s (https://thecharnelhouse.org/2013/05/30/hannes-meyer-and-the-red-bauhaus-brigade-in-the-soviet-union-1930-1937/581587_513757591971194_1666790961_n/) 4 Lena Bergner, Design for "Metro" Textile, 1932, Gouache, graphite, and crayon on paper, bpk | The Metropolitan Museum of Art, © Heirs of Lena Bergner (https://www.bauhaus-imaginista.org/articles/2485/lena-bergner-from-the-bauhaus-to-mexico) 5 Lena Bergner working at her loom in Geneva, from: Arquitectura y Decoración, no. 16, 1939 6 Lena Bergner Meyer, loom drawings, late 1930s, Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau, © Heirs of Lena Meyer-Bergner (https://www.bauhaus-imaginista.org/articles/6266/a-migratory-life-from-dessau-to-moscow-tomexico) 7 Cover of „El Libro Negro del Terror Nazi en Europa“, 1943 (https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:El_libro_negro_del_terror_nazi_en_europa.jpg) 8 Image statistics (Isotype) Lena Meyer-Bergner, Memorandum CAPFCE 1944–1946, p. 97 (excerpt), Coahuila; © Hannes Meyer-Archiv (https://www.bauhaus-imaginista.org/articles/6856/die-sozialisierung-des-wissens-und-das-streben-nach-deutungsmacht) 9 Hannes Meyer und Lena Meyer-Bergner in Mexiko, Archivo General de la Nacion de México (https://www.bauhaus-imaginista.org/articles/6856/die-sozialisierung-des-wissens-und-das-streben-nach-deutungsmacht)

BONUS EPISODE – ESPAÑOL

Léna Meyer-Bergner fue más que una diseñadora textil: Léna Meyer-Bergner fue una fuerza impulsora de la educación y el cambio social. Aunque su esposo, Hannes Meyer, segundo director de la Bauhaus, es muy conocido, el trabajo pionero de Lena en el diseño, la pedagogía y la transformación social está finalmente saliendo a la luz.

En este episodio, me senté con la historiadora de arte mexicana Viridiana Zavala para explorar la desconocida historia de Léna Meyer-Bergner: desde sus estudios en la Bauhaus hasta su enfoque visionario del modernismo en la Unión Soviética y su talento gráfico en el exilio en México, exploramos cómo evolucionó su obra.

🎧 Escucha ahora y descubre por qué Léna Meyer-Bergner merece un lugar en el centro de la historia de la Bauhaus.

SHOW NOTES https://www.bauhausfaces.com | @bauhausfacespodcast | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

@viryzavalar

PUBLICACIONES DE VIRIDIANA ZAVALA

• Viridiana Zavala: „La Bauhaus en el Taller de Gráfica Popular y el CAPFCE. Obras, exposiciones y gestión cultural de Hannes Meyer y Léna Bergner“, 2023, PhD thesis
• Viridiana Zavala: „Lena Bergner y el diseño textil como reflejo del pensamiento de la arquitectura moderna. Imágenes textiles en la revista ‚Arquitectura y decoración‘“, 2016, Master thesis

OTRAS PUBLICACIONES SOBRE LÉNA MEYER-BERGNER EN INGLÉS Y ALEMÁN Sandra Neugärtner: “From Revolution to Reformation...“, in From Posada to Isotype..., ed. B. Buchloh, Madrid: Museo Reina Sofia, 2022 Sandra Neugärtner: „Die Sozialisierung des Wissens und das Streben nach Deutungsmacht – Lena Bergners Transfer der Isotype nach Mexiko“, 2018 Sandra Neugärtner: “Anti-fascist Exile, Political Print Media...“, in: History of Communism in Europe, 2023 Fabienne Eggelhöfer: "Shifting, Rotating, Mirroring – Lena Bergner’s Minutes of Paul Klee’s Classes", 2018 María Montserrat Farías Barba, Marco Santiago Mondragón / Viridiana Zavala Rivera: "Lena Bergner – From the Bauhaus to Mexico", 2018 Marion von Osten: "A Migratory Life—from Dessau to Moscow to Mexico Hannes Meyer and Lena Bergner and the Arts", 2018 Raquel Franklin: "Of Art and Politics – Hannes Meyer and the Workshop of Popular Graphics", 2018

OBRAS DE LENA MEYER-BERGNER National Gallery, Australia Harvard Art Museum, USA

FOTO DE PORTADA Retrato de Léna Meyer-Bergner en su telar en Ginebra, Suiza, de: Arquitectura y Decoración, n.º 16, 1939

IMÁGENES DEL CAPÍTULO 1–3 Retrato de Léna Meyer-Bergner y Lilo Meyer, 1942, colección privada. 4 [Lena Meyer-Bergner: Diseño de alfombra, Zentrum Paul Klee, Berna, © Herederos de Lena Meyer-Bergner ](https://www.bauhaus-imaginista.org/articles/1489/shifting-rotating-mirroring](https://www.bauhaus-imaginista.org/articles/1489/shifting-rotating-mirroring) 5 Lena Bergner, Diseño para "Metro" textilio, 1932, Gouache, grafito y crayón sobre papel, bpk | The Metropolitan Museum of Art, © Heirs of Lena Bergner 6 Lena Bergner trabajando en su telar en Ginebra, de: Arquitectura y Decoración, n.º 16, 1939 7–8 Lena Bergner Meyer, dibujos de telares, finales de la década de 1930, Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau, © Herederos de Lena Meyer-Bergner 9 Portada de «El Libro Negro del Terror Nazi en Europa», 1943 10 Pabellón Comité de ayuda a Rusia en Guerra, 1943, Interior, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Archiv der Moderne 11 CAPFCE Exhibition in the Palace of Fine Arts, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Archiv der Moderne

Bauhaus student

"Bill always said that he also went to the Bauhaus to find clarity. And that is a process. You don't just have clarity, you have to earn it." (Angela Thomas)

For this brand-new episode, I travelled to Zumikon to visit Angela Thomas and Erich Schmid in their house - Haus Bill. This house, which looks somehow unremarkable from the outside but is amazingly light, open, and welcoming and on the inside, was built by the Swiss architect and designer Max Bill in 1967–68. His second wife and widow, Angela Thomas, lives there today with her husband, the filmmaker Erich Schmid, who made a film about Bill entitled “Max Bill – Das absolute Augenmaß/The master's vision”.

Max Bill established himself in art history as the architect and first director of the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Ulm (also known as HfG Ulm or in English the Ulm School of Design). And that is exactly the reason why I also interviewed the head of the HfG Ulm archive, Martin Mäntele, regarding all questions around the official successor of the Bauhaus. Because that is what Bill intended to do in Ulm – to continue the Bauhaus as if it had never been closed in 1933. And he had Walter Gropius’s blessing, too, and the financial support by the Americans.

LOOK OUT FOR 2 BONUS EPISODES with the original Interviews that will be published in the next 2 weeks!

SHOW NOTES SHOW NOTES https://www.bauhausfaces.com | @bauhausfacespodcast | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

HAUS BILL, ZUMIKON https://www.maxbill.ch/ ANGELA THOMAS ERICH SCHMID HFG ULM ARCHIVE https://www.hfg-ulm.de

FILM „Das absolute Augenmaß“ by Erich Schmid https://www.erichschmid.ch/page.php?2,3,4,6,0,

BOOKS ABOUT MAX BILL Angela Thomas: A Subversive Gleam: Max Bill and His Time. 1908–1939, 2022 Angela Thomas: Von konstruktiver Klarheit. Max Bill und seine Zeit. 1940-1952, 2023 Jakob Bill: Max Bill am Bauhaus, 2008 Jakob Bill: Max Bill - Funktion und Funktionalismus: Schriften 1945-1988, 2008

ART BY MAX BILL Hauser & Wirth https://www.hauserwirth.com/artists/23340-max-bill/

TAKEHIKO MIZUTANI’S SCULPTURE FROM THE BAUHAUS VORKURS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbmU0xH7ehs https://www.blindbild.com/berlin-berlinische-galerie-exhibition-original-bauhaus-september-2019/berlinische-galerie-bauhaus-mizutani/

NUSCH ÉLUARD https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nusch_Éluard

ABSTRACTION–CRÉATION https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstraction-Création

ULM STOOL/ULMER HOCKER https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulmer_Hocker

JUNGHANS WATCH DESIGN https://www.junghans.de/kollektionen/uhren/junghans-max-bill/?p=1

COVER PHOTO Still from the film „Max Bill - Das absolute Augenmass" by Erich Schmid

CHAPTER IMAGES 01 Still from the film „Max Bill - Das absolute Augenmass" by Erich Schmid 02 Max Bill as a 17-year-old in Paris, where his first works were exhibited at the legendary Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs, 1925 (Photo PD), Estate of Max Bill 03 Max Bill: Poster „Suchard Chocolat 1826–1926“, https://collections.mahn.ch/fr/notice/st-394-suchard-chocolat-1826-1926-873263e3-714e-4089-ad5e-5dd38b6a76d5 04 Max Bill: Katt Both and Hilde Rantzsch, 1927–28, Estate of Max Bill 05 Nusch Eluard Still from the film „Max Bill - Das absolute Augenmass" by Erich Schmid 06 Cover of „Abstraction-création: art non-figuratif“, No. 5, 1936, https://monoskop.org/Abstraction-création 07 Max Bill: Granite sculpture Continuity at the Deutsche Bank headquarters in Frankfurt am Main, CC BY-SA 3.0, Photo by Frank Behnsen, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20651441 08 Max Bills Typografie gegen den Faschismus, 09 Max Bill: Hochschule für Gestaltung (HfG) Ulm / Ulm School of Design, Photo by Hans G. Conrad / René Spitz, 1955, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17713152 10 Max Bill: Pavilion Sculpture, Zurich 1983, Photo by Matt Mechtley, https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Pavillon-SkulpturMaxBill_02.jpg

BONUS EPISODE 1 – ENGLISH

In this bonus episode you will hear the original interview with Martin Mäntele, head of the HfG Ulm Archive, and bauhaus faces.

Discover how Max Bill played a central role in the founding and first years of the HfG Ulm, the Ulm School of Design – and how it evolved without him. And join us as we discuss the design icons of the HfG: the Ulm stool, the Braun radio ‘Snow White's Coffin’ and the stackable TC 100 tableware. And so much more ...

SHOW NOTES https://www.bauhausfaces.com | @bauhausfacespodcast | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

HfG ULM ARCHIVE HAUS BILL, ZUMIKON

COVER IMAGE SK 4 radio-record player combination, Design: Hans Gugelot (HfG) and Dieter Rams (Braun), Manufacturer: Braun AG, 1956, photo by Oleg Kuchar, © HfG Archive Museum Ulm

CHAPTER IMAGES 1 Portrait Dr. Martin Mäntele, 2022, photo by Max Braun, © HfG-Archiv Museum Ulm 2 Max Bill with Walter Gropius, Inge Aicher-Scholl, Otl Aicher, 1954, photos by Sigrid von Schweinitz, © HfG-Archiv Museum Ulm 3 Inge Aicher-Scholl and Walter Gropius at the opening of the HfG building, October 1955, photo by Hans and Ike Rosenberg, © HfG-Archiv Museum Ulm 4 Max Bill in Ulm, ca. 1955, photo by Sigrid von Schweinitz, © HfG-Archiv Museum Ulm 5 Hans-Werner Richter and Inge Scholl in Ulm, 1949, photo by Hannes Rosenberg, © HfG-Archiv Museum Ulm 6 Ingela Albers and Walter Peterhans preparing the presentation of the results of problem no. 9 for group discussion, 1953, © HfG-Archiv Museum Ulm 7 Exercise from Walter Peterhans' course, Lecturer: Walter Peterhans, Student: Immo Krumrey, 1955, photo by Oleg Kuchar, © HfG-Archiv Museum Ulm 8 Josef Albers in the classroom, ca. 1955, photo by Rolf Schroeter, © HfG-Archiv / Museum Ulm & Josef Albers teaching the Grundlehre course at the Ulm School of Design, ca. 1954, photo by Ernst Hahn, © HfG-Archiv Museum Ulm 9 Colour exercise, Lecturer: Helene Nonné-Schmidt, Student: Bertus Mulder, photo by Oleg Kuchar, © HfG-Archiv Museum Ulm 10 Johannes Itten in class, 1955, photo by Sigrid von Schweinitz, © HfG-Archiv Museum Ulm 11 Max Bill teaching at HfG Ulm, 1955, photo by Ernst Hahn, © HfG-Archiv Museum Ulm 12 Tomás Maldonado discussing designs, 1955, photo by Wolfgang Siol, © HfG-Archiv Museum Ulm 13 Handover of the million-mark cheque at Ulm Town Hall, 1952. From left to right: Mayor Pfizer (in the background), Inge Aicher-Scholl, Ellen McCloy, John J. McCloy, Photographer unknown © HfG-Archiv Museum Ulm 14 ADGB Trade Union School Bernau, 1930, Postcard, bbb e. V. Archive 15 The completed main building, photographed from an aeroplane, 1955, photo by Ernst Hahn, © HfG-Archiv Museum Ulm 16 The Ulm Stool, 1954, Design: Max Bill, Hans Gugelot in collaboration with Paul Hildinger and Josef Schlecker, photo by Ernst Hahn, © HfG-Archiv Museum Ulm 17 Construction oft he teachers‘ houses, 1961, photo by Wolfgang Siol, © HfG-Archiv Museum Ulm 18 Anti-War March, Chicago 1968, by David Wilson, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48476311 19 View of the permanent exhibition, 2013, photo by Jens Kramer, © HfG Archive Museum Ulm 20 SK 4 radio-record player combination, Design: Hans Gugelot (HfG) and Dieter Rams (Braun), Manufacturer: Braun AG, 1956, photo by Oleg Kuchar, © HfG Archive Museum Ulm | Stackable tableware TC 100, 1961, Design: Hans (Nick) Roericht, 1959, Manufacturer: Thomas / Rosenthal, 1961, photo by Wolfgang Siol, © HfG Archive Museum Ulm 21 SK 4 radio-record player combination, Design: Hans Gugelot (HfG) and Dieter Rams (Braun), Manufacturer: Braun AG, 1956, photo by Oleg Kuchar, © HfG Archive Museum Ulm 22 Stackable tableware TC 100, 1961, Design: Hans (Nick) Roericht, 1959, Manufacturer: Thomas / Rosenthal, 1961, photo by Wolfgang Siol, © HfG Archive Museum Ulm 23 Mitropa tableware RATIONELL, 1969/1970, https://www.etsy.com/de/listing/1278132116/geschirr-rationell-ddr-porzellan-colditz

BONUS EPISODE 2 – DEUTSCH

In dieser Bonusfolge mit Angela Thomas (Kunsthistorikerin und Bill-Wittwe) und Erich Schmid (Journalist und Filmemacher) tauchen wir ein in das faszinierende Leben von Max Bill – einem der prägendsten Köpfe der Konkreten Kunst und Mitbegründer der HfG Ulm. Und das Ganze ausnahmsweise auf Deutsch!

Jetzt reinhören in 1h50 voller spannender Insights, Anekdoten und Bonusmaterial, das es nicht in die englische Folge geschafft hat!

SHOW NOTES https://www.bauhausfaces.com | @bauhausfacespodcast | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

HAUS BILL ANGELA THOMAS ERICH SCHMID HfG ARCHIV

FILM „bill – das absolute augenmaß“ von Erich Schmid

BÜCHER ÜBER MAX BILL Angela Thomas: Mit subversivem Glanz: Max Bill und seine Zeit. 1908–1939, 2022 Angela Thomas: Von konstruktiver Klarheit. Max Bill und seine Zeit. 1940-1952, 2023 Jakob Bill: Max Bill am Bauhaus, 2008 Jakob Bill: Max Bill - Funktion und Funktionalismus: Schriften 1945-1988, 2008 Fabienne Eggelhöfer et al.: Max Bill Global: Ein Künstler als Brückenbauer, 2021

NUSCH ÉLUARD KÜNSTLERGRUPPE ABSTRACTION–CRÉATION

COVER FOTO Max Bill, Ende der 1940er Jahre, Foto: PD

KAPITELBILDER 1 Max Bill, Ende der 1940er Jahre, Foto: PD 2 Angela Thomas und Erich Schmid in der Max-Bill-Ausstellung im Mies-van-der-Rohe-Haus, 2025, Foto: Holden Kelm 3 Poster für den Film „bill – das absolute augenmaß“ von Erich Schmid, 2008 4 Max Bill als 17-Jähriger in Paris, wo seine ersten Werke 1925 auf der legendären Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs ausgestellt wurden (Foto PD), Nachlass Max Bill 5 Bills Studentenausweis am Bauhaus, 1927–1928, Nachlass Max Bill 6 Max Bill: Poster „Suchard Chocolat 1826–1926“, https://collections.mahn.ch/fr/notice/st-394-suchard-chocolat-1826-1926-873263e3-714e-4089-ad5e-5dd38b6a76d5 7 Hans Fischli, https://www.baukultur-waedenswil.ch/fischli-hans.html 8 Max Bill und Lotte Beese, Foto: Angela Thomas 9 Ernst Mays Team für das Projekt in Nischni Tagil (1931), unbekannter sowjetischer Fotograf, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25752421 10 Philipp Tolziner, Autor: Unbekannt (Regionales Museum Perm), https://goskatalog.ru/portal/#/collections?id=29449733, Fair use, https://ru.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10713537 11 Hannes Meyer bei der Besichtigung der Baustelle für die Bundesschule der ADGB in Bernau, 1928, Foto: Hermann Bunzel https://www.bauhaus100.de/magazin/lebe-das-bauhaus/unesco-erweitert-das-bauhaus-welterbe-in-deutschland/ 12 Bauhaus-Gebäude in Dessau, Foto: Spyrosdrakopoulos, 2014, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38946836 13 Max Bills Typografie gegen den Faschismus, © Erich Schmid und Angela Thomas 14 Max Bill: Katt Both und Hilde Rantzsch, 1927–28, Nachlass Max Bill 15 Bauhaus-Meisterausweis von Gunta Stölzl, gemeinfrei, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8451286 16 Schweizer Flagge, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schweiz 17 Nusch Éluard Standbild aus dem Film „bill – das absolute augenmaß“ von Erich Schmid 18 „Informationen“ – Herausgeber: Ignazio Silone; Gestaltung: Max Bill; Verlag: Emil Oprecht Zürich, mit freundlicher Genehmigung von Erich Schmid und Angela Thomas 19 Takehiko Mizutani, https://www.mvsevm.it/en/takehiko-mizutani/ 20 Max Bill: Pavillon-Skulptur, Zürich, 1983, Foto: Matt Mechtley, https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Pavillon-Skulptur_Max_Bill_02.jpg 21 Abstraction-création: art non-figuratif, https://monoskop.org/Abstraction-création 22 Max Bill: Hochschule für Gestaltung Ulm (HfG), Foto: Hans G. Conrad / René Spitz, 1955, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17713152 23 Max Bill: Granitskulptur „Kontinuität“ am Hauptsitz der Deutschen Bank in Frankfurt am Main, CC BY-SA 3.0, Foto: Frank Behnsen, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20651441 24 Haus Bill in Zumikon, https://www.maxbill.ch

Did you know that in his final year alone, Klee created 1,253 works? A cornerstone of Bauhaus art, Klee’s influence is undeniable, but his story begins much earlier. From aspiring musician following his family’s footsteps to the painter who “discovered color” in Tunisia, his artistic journey is nothing short of remarkable. His tenure at the then-young Bauhaus alongside legends like Wassily Kandinsky helped shape generations of artists, despite the challenges of balancing teaching and creating.

This episode offers an exclusive insider look into the man behind the art, his teaching legacy, and why understanding Klee’s story changes how we see his work today. Don’t miss this deep dive into one of the Bauhaus movement’s brightest stars.

Hit play now and subscribe for more stories that bring art history to life!

SHOW NOTES https://www.bauhausfaces.com | @bauhausfacespodcast | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

Zentrum Paul Klee, Berne Paul Klee – Bildnerische Form- und Gestaltungslehre**

BOOKS BY PAUL KLEE Jürgen Glaesmer (ed.): Paul Klee. Beiträge zur bildnerischen Formlehre (1921–22), 1999 Felix Klee (ed.): Paul Klee. Tagebücher 1898–1918, 1995 Paul Klee: Pedagogical Sketchbook, New York 1953

PAUL KLEE'S ART WORK IN MUSEUMS Zentrum Paul Klee, Berne San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) Museum of Modern Art, New York (MoMA) Centre Pompidou, Paris Pinkothek der Moderne, Munich Berggruen Museum, Berlin Lenbachhaus, Munich

COVER PHOTO Lily Klee: Portrait of Paul Klee in Düsseldorf, April 1933, Zentrum Paul Klee

CHAPTER IMAGES 1 Signature by Paul Klee, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/PaulKlee 2 Alexander Eliasberg: Portrait of Paul Klee in Munich, 1911, Zentrum Paul Klee 3 Paul Klee: In the houses of St. Germain, 1914, Zentrum Paul Klee 4 Felix Klee (?): Paul Klee in his atelier at the Bauhaus in Weimar, 1924, Zentrum Paul Klee 5 Paul Klee: Departure of the ships, 1927, Zentrum Paul Klee 6 Paul Klee: Teaching notes, 1921, Zentrum Paul Klee 7 Paul Klee: Pedagogical Sketchbook, 1924, https://monoskop.org/images/7/73/KleePaulPaedagogischesSkizzenbuch_1925.pdf 8 Paul Klee: Côte de Provence 1, 1927, Zentrum Paul Klee 9 Lily Klee: Paul Klee in Düsseldorf, 1933, Zentrum Paul Klee 10 Fee Meisel: Paul and Lily Klee with cat Bimbo in Berne, 1935, Zentrum Paul Klee 11 Felix Klee: Paul Klee in his atelier in Berne, 1938, Zentrum Paul Klee

PAUL KLEE'S PLAYLIST (Podcast)

In this new episode of “bauhaus faces” we talk about Hannes Meyer, the second Bauhaus director.

PART 1 concentrates on Hannes Meyer’s formative years and his involvement in cooperativism and collectivism, his first steps as architect and artist, and then on to his pivotal role at the Bauhaus in Dessau. What was new when he became second director of the Bauhaus? And why did he have to leave the Bauhaus all at once after two successful years?

The US-American art-historian Dara Kiese, who wrote her PhD thesis about Hannes Meyer’s holistic education at the Bauhaus, and former Senator for Culture in Berlin and art-historian Thomas Flierl help tell the story of Hannes Meyer in this 1st part.

The Meyer era of the Bauhaus ended in summer of 1930 when he is dismissed by the Dessau magistrate in absence from the school. The political tensions between the far left and the far right now became palpable. A communist cell had emerged at the Bauhaus, for which Meyer was blamed responsible. His peak in Germany was now beginning to decline and Meyer decided that it was time to try and establish himself in the Soviet Union – in a country from which he expected freedom of thought and a fulfilment of his architectural visions. Little did he know …

SHOW NOTES https://www.bauhausfaces.com | @bauhausfacespodcast | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

Hannes Meyer: The new world [Die neue Welt] (1926) https://thecharnelhouse.org/2015/09/10/hannes-meyer-the-new-world-die-neue-welt-1926/ Thomas Flierl/Philipp Oswalt (eds.): Im Streit der Deutungen/Conflicting Interpretations, 2019, Spector books Dara Kiese: „Holistic Education“, in: Philipp Oswalt (ed.): Hannes Meyer's New Bauhaus Pedagogy. From Dessau to Mexico, 2021, Spector books Dara Kiese: „Bauhaus-PR unter Hannes Meyer und Mies van der Rohe“, in: Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin/Patrick Rössler (ed.): bauhaus-kommunikation. Innovative Strategien im Umgang mit Medien, interner und externer Öffentlichkeit, Gebr. Mann Verlag, 2009 Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau/Wolfgang Thöner/Karoline Lemke (eds.): bauhaus. sprachrohr der studierenden. organ der kostufra, 2022, Spector books Wolfgang Thöner / Florian Strob / Andreas Schätzke (eds.): Linke Waffe Kunst. Die Kommunistische Studentenfraktion am Bauhaus, 2022, Birkhäuser Verlag

CHAPTER IMAGES 1 Portrait of Hannes Meyer, ca. 1938, https://www.marx21.de/100-jahre-bauhaus-hannes-meyer/ 2 Hannes Meyer, Freidorf, Muttenz, photo: Siedlungsgenossenschaft Freidorf, 1989, https://www.heimatkunde-muttenz.ch/siedlung/siedlung/aus-den-quartieren/freidorf/fotos-freidorf?start=1#gallery0-5 3/4/6/7 Bauhaus Dessau, Workshop wing from the south-west, 1925/26, photo: Spyrosdrakopoulos, 2014, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38946836 5 ADGB Trade Union School Bernau, 1928–30, Post card, 1930, Archive bbb e.V. 8 Wolfgang Thöner / Florian Strob / Andreas Schätzke (Hg.): Linke Waffe Kunst. Die Kommunistische Studentenfraktion am Bauhaus, 2022, https://birkhauser.de/de/book/9783035624892 9 Lotte Gerson-Collein, Portrait of Hannes Meyer, c. 1930, https://www.markanto.de/fotografie-hannes-meyer.html

In August 1930, Hannes Meyer was dismissed from the Bauhaus amid rising communist activism and his inability to control it. A 1931 caricature by Adolf Hofmeister humorously captures Meyer clutching the hammer and sickle, symbolizing his unwavering commitment to socialism. Despite his departure, Meyer’s Bauhaus legacy endures in photographs and memories, but his true passion was always for the revolutionary proletariat cause.

Shortly after leaving Germany, Meyer declared in a 1930 Pravda interview his conviction that architecture must serve socialism, prompting his move to the Soviet Union. There, from 1930 to 1936, he immersed himself in numerous projects that embodied his vision of a socialist culture in the making—a period so rich it inspired an entire book by Tatiana Efrussi. In this episode, she will talk about her research results.

This episode of bauhaus faces explores Meyer’s Soviet years and his subsequent attempt to support the socialist revolution in Spain. But Meyer’s story doesn’t end there. In the final part, Mexican art historian Raquel Franklin will reveal his later work in Mexico and his final years in Switzerland. Join us as we continue to unravel the complex life and enduring impact of one of the Bauhaus’s most politically charged figures.

SHOW NOTES https://www.bauhausfaces.com | @bauhausfacespodcast | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

PUBLICATIONS AND ARTICLES Tatiana Efrussi: Hannes Meyer – Soviet Architect. Life and Work in the USSR, 1930–1936, 2025 Anja Guttenberger & Astrid Volpert: Praised, Sentenced, Forgotten, Rediscovered – 62 Members of the Bauhaus in the Land of the Soviets, Interview, 2019 Tatiana Efrussi & Yuri Palmin: Bauhaus in Russia – Haunted Houses, 2019 Adrian Rifkin: Meyer’s Russia, or the Land that Never Was, 2019 Ursula Muscheler: Das rote Bauhaus. Eine Geschichte von Hoffnung und Scheitern, 2016

BAUHAUS EXHIBITION, MOSCOW, 1931 Hannes Meyer: The Moscow Bauhaus Exhibition Catalogue, 1931, Translation Tatiana Efrussi: After the Ball – Hannes Meyer Presenting the Bauhaus in Moscow, 2019

COVER PHOTO Lotte Gerson-Collein, Portrait of Hannes Meyer, 1928, https://www.markanto.de/fotografie-hannes-meyer.html, © Ursula Kirsten-Collein

CHAPTER IMAGES 1 Adolf Hofmeister, Cartoon of Hannes Meyer, 1930, Source: hannes meyer mluví. Tvorba. Praha, roč. IV. 40. 8 říjen 1931 2/3 Natja Catalan, Tibor Weiner, Philipp Tolziner, Konrad Püschel, Margarete Mengel, Lilya Polgar, Anton Urban – members of the “Hannes Meyer architectural group” in Moscow, mid-1930s, https://thecharnelhouse.org/2013/05/30/hannes-meyer-and-the-red-bauhaus-brigade-in-the-soviet-union-1930-1937/581587_513757591971194_1666790961_n/ 4 Hannes Meyer, Béla Scheffler und Arkadij Mordvinov in Moskau, 1930-31, in: AIZ, Vol. 1, 1931, p. 19 5 Exhibition Bauhaus Dessau: Period of Hannes Meyer’s Directorship 1928-1930 at Moscow State Museum of Modern Western Art (GMNZI), 1931, https://www.bauhaus-imaginista.org/articles/2083/after-the-ball 6 Hannes Meyer delivering a speech at WASI in the Soviet Union, 1930, https://thecharnelhouse.org/2013/05/30/hannes-meyer-and-the-red-bauhaus-brigade-in-the-soviet-union-1930-1937/hannes-meyer-delivering-a-speech-at-wasi-in-the-soviet-union-2/ 7 Show trial with Hannes Meyer in the audience, in: Tatiana Efrussi: Hannes Meyer. Soviet Architect. Life and Work in the USSR, 1930–1936 8/9 Planning for Nizhni-Kurinsk on the Kama River in co-operation with a brigade of the Standardgor project, in: Claude Schnaidt: Hannes Meyer”, Bauten, Projekte und Schriften, Buildings, projects and writings, 1965, p. 67 10 Lotte Gerson-Collein, Portrait of Hannes Meyer, 1928, https://www.markanto.de/fotografie-hannes-meyer.html, © Ursula Kirsten-Collein 11 Exterior view of the Mümliswil memorial, photo by Markus Beyeler / Guido Fluri Stiftung, 2013, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=151638808