The Origin of Bauhaus Humanism (1919-1933) in Classical Greek Culture: A Look Through the Female Student Body

Abstract

The goal of this investigation is to explore a hitherto unconsidered connection that links the pedagogy of the celebrated Bauhaus (1919-1933) with classical humanist ideals, the essential origins of which take us back to classical Greece: physis, paideia, the temple, harmony and geometry. The investigation is based on a methodology involving historical and hermeneutic study of a qualitative nature, the primary sources for which are original documents held at the Bauhaus-Archiv in Berlin together with the international bibliography consulted at the Warburg Institute of the University of London, whereby the earlier information from the German archive is placed in the context of classical Greek culture. In order to highlight this connection in its least-explored guise, the personalities and figures used for the investigation are confined to the female students, owing to their being less well-known participants in the general artistic output of the school. The article supports and corroborates the thesis as initially set out: that the Bauhaus – possibly the last classical humanist school in Europe – was closer to Greek culture than has previously been thought, and that this phenomenon, which enabled them to make the leap to their respective vanguards, was present in the output of its female students.