PORTFOLIO | BAUHAUS-DRUCKE. NEUE EUROPÄISCHE GRAPHIK. ERSTE MAPPE: MEISTER DES STAATLICHEN BAUHAUSES IN WEIMAR

The portfolio comprises: 

Lyonel Feininger, Villa am Strand (Prasse W 226), woodcut

Lyonel Feininger, Spaziergänger (Prasse W 113), woodcut

Johannes Itten, Spruch (Itten 223), lithograph printed in colors

Johannes Itten, Haus des weißen Mannes (Architektonische Studie) (Itten 222), lithograph

Paul Klee, Die Heilige vom inneren Licht (Kornfeld 81), lithograph printed in colors

Paul Klee, Hoffmaneske scene (Kornfeld 82), lithograph printed in colors

Gerhard Marcks, Die Katzen (Lammek H 27), woodcut

Gerhard Marcks, Die Eule (Lammek H 28), woodcut

Georg Muche, Tierkopf (Schiller 12), etching 

Georg Muche, Radierung (Schiller 13), etching

Oskar Schlemmer, Figur H2 (Schlemmer GL 7), lithograph

Oskar Schlemmer, Figurenplan K1 (Schlemmer GL 8), lithograph

Lothar Schreyer, Farbform 6 aus Bühnen werk "Kindsterben", lithograph with handcoloring

Lothar Schreyer, Farbform 2 aus Bühnen werk "Kindsterben", lithograph with handcoloring

“Noch nie war die vorwarts drängende Künstlerschaft einer Zeit so einig im Bewusstsein ihres Sendung und darum trotz aller Hemmnisse so nahe beieinander wie heute.”

“Never before have the forward-looking artists of a time been so united in the focus of their mission and therefore, despite all obstacles, as close to one another as today.” (The critic E. Wiese in his review of the portfolio in Der Cicerone, XIV (1922), p. 169)

In 1921, the Masters of the Bauhaus in Weimar announced a plan to produce five print portfolios representing the most significant artists in Germany, France, Holland, Italy and Russia with the dual aim of securing greater financial independence and gaining broader recognition for the Bauhaus and its ideas. By 1923, four of the portfolios had been published, but the project for the second portfolio dedicated to French artists was abandoned due to both postwar tension and economic difficulties.

The first portfolio was reserved for Masters of the Bauhaus (Meister des Staatlichen Bauhauses in Weimar) and included two works by each of the institution's most prominent teachers. Lyonel Feininger, the Master of Form of the printing workshop, was responsible for the monumental project. Feininger not only planned the lettering for the title page, index and colophon for all four portfolios in addition to designing the cover for the first, he also oversaw the printing of the entire edition.

Despite contemporary excitement for the project, Neue Europäische Graphik experienced limited commercial success and a large portion of the edition remained unsold when the Bauhaus was forced to move from Weimar to Dessau in 1925. Additionally, the destruction of “degenerate art” by the Nazis led to many copies of the edition being lost. As a result, complete portfolios are extremely rare.

The range of style and technique represented in the portfolio illustrates that the Bauhaus was not defined by a single aesthetic and reflects the collaborative nature of the community of artists and craftsmen who were unified by their belief in the mission of the Bauhaus. The Neue Europäische Graphik thus exemplifies the early innovations of the Bauhaus, which grew to become the most influential school of art and design of the 20th century.