NTAQ Challenge for July: The Women of the Bauhaus School. The men of the Bauhaus School have always grabbed all of the attention.
Paul Klee and Josef Albers are two of the most celebrated pioneers of modern art. The women of the school, and there were many, are not as well remembered. I'm afraid they were considered less able than their male counterparts by many artists, including the founder of the Bauhaus School, Walter Gropius. Gropius actually believed that men thought in three dimensions, but women only thought in two. So women were encouraged to pursue weaving rather than painting, sculpture and architecture.
For our July challenge, Michelle asked us to choose as inspiration a work by one of the female members of the Bauhaus. I chose Gunta Stölzl. Gunta was one of the first women to join the school, and headed the weaving department from 1926 to 1931. She was known for complex weavings with undulating lines and mosaics of colored squares.
Gunta was married to a Jew and was forced to leave Germany by the Nazi regime. She founded a hand-weaving company in Zurich, and lived and worked there until her death in 1983.
Her work appeals to me strongly, probably because of the beautiful use of line in her weavings. For my inspiration, I chose a collage she made in 1924. She often executed designs in mixed media before weaving them.
I focused on her use of fine and not-so-fine black lines on the bright pastel background. My piece:
Several NTAQ members were inspired by the work of Anni Albers, wife of Josef Albers. She was also a weaver.
Rhonda was inspired by her strong rectangles:
She made two pieces, using burlap as a base and weaving materials through. Very cool.
Wendy loved her use of polygons:
Jaye's piece included her photo superimposed on one of her weavings and her story.
Jaye then showed us how to weave on a small "beginner" loom. I had never woven before, and I loved it. It was very meditative. Uh oh. I don't need another fiber obsession.....
My piece so far:
For our July challenge, Michelle asked us to choose as inspiration a work by one of the female members of the Bauhaus. I chose Gunta Stölzl. Gunta was one of the first women to join the school, and headed the weaving department from 1926 to 1931. She was known for complex weavings with undulating lines and mosaics of colored squares.
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| Gunta Stölzl |
Her work appeals to me strongly, probably because of the beautiful use of line in her weavings. For my inspiration, I chose a collage she made in 1924. She often executed designs in mixed media before weaving them.
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| Collage by Gunta Stölzl, 1924 |
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| Ode to Gunta, 12" x 17", ©2018 |
Rhonda was inspired by her strong rectangles:
Michelle was excited by her use of squiggles. She made many weavings with squiggles woven through them.
Kay riffed off one of her weaving designs:
Kay's piece:
Jaye was fascinated by the story of Otti Berger, another Bauhaus weaver and textile artist. Otti was a Hungarian Jew. She came to the Bauhaus as a student and became an instructor. She taught there until 1936, when she was forced to leave by the Nazis. She first fled to England, but her hearing impairment and her inability to speak English made her unemployable. She returned to Zagreb in 1938 to take care of her ailing mother and was sent to Auschwitz in 1944. She died there.
In all, I think we did a wonderful job! And we learned quite a lot about the Women of the Bauhaus School.
Jaye then showed us how to weave on a small "beginner" loom. I had never woven before, and I loved it. It was very meditative. Uh oh. I don't need another fiber obsession.....
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| Wendy and Jaye weaving away |
So now my challenge is to get back to quilting. Of course, I have to finish my little woven piece before the next NTAQ meeting, don't I?
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