The Bullllin ¢f oe MUSEUM OF MODERN ART 6 VOLUME 5 DECEMBER 1938 BAUHAUS Crhile Mo COFe“MODERNISTIC” AND “STREAMLINED” The reception of the Bauhaus exhibition has been interesting. The opening for members on Tuesday evening, December 6, was so crowded that it was difficult to get o fair impression of the show. Attendance records for the temporary quariers in Rockefeller Center wore broken ‘Most of the critics have reclized the grect historical importance of the Bauhaus in the dile ferent fields of modern art and, above call, its extraordinary influence on industrial design. But many of them, primarily critics of painting ‘and sculpture, have credited it with parenthood of things which it would be the first to disclaim— “modernistic decoration," "modernistic chairs” ‘and "the streamlined fixtures in banks.” We are told that the Bauhaus was "a major source of the streamlined vision" ond that “everything from the streamlined paper drinking cup and fountain pen to the buildings of the New York World's Fair is the result of this movement.” These confusions are worth analysing. "'Modernistic" is a word which should have a specicl ond limited meaning, but is carelessly used by nearly everyone (except, of course, members of the Museum of Modern Art). It should mean pseudo-modern. "istic" added to an adjective means "in the manner of" or “in imitation of the style of. Modemistic is to modern as archaistic is to ‘archaic. Archaic sculpture is archaic sculpture, the product of artists working in the normal honest style of an archaic period, as for in- stance, Greek sculpture of the sixth cantury B.C. Archaistic sculpture is pseudo-archaic sculp- ture, the product of artists oping the stylistic traits of o genuinely archaic period, os for in- stance, Roman sculptors who turned out modish figures in travesty of the archcic Greek style. Modernistic, then. should apply to works which imitate superficially the forms of medorn art, reducing them to decorative mannerisms. "'Modernistic decoration" accurately describes the cubistic mirrors of the Shoe Shoppes but not the forms of typical Bauhous objects* which were the honest result of a study of their func- tion, the material they were made of ond the process by which they were manufactured. Modernistic is too valuable a word to be sac. rificed as a sloppy substitute for modern. The Bauhaus had almost nothing to do with streamlining, for it was not ordinarily engaged designing objects which had to move offi ciently at high speed Straamlining meons exactly whot one would think, the smoothing down of the form of an object, levelling the bumps and hollows until @ shope is achieved which suggests a bullet, tear drop or one of the simpler fishes. It was developed in the design of planes and racing ovtomobiles ond boats, in order that delay due to surface friction might be reduced and speed, consequently, increased. For this pur- pose streamlining was a real advantage. The resulting forms were interesting ond seemed new. Industrial designers, engaged in “re-styl ing'" clmost everything, so that what we owned might look old fashioned os soon as possible, seized upon these forms and misapplied them 10 a fantasiic variety of objects. Streamlined paper cups, if dropped, would fall with less wind-resistance; they are no better than the old ‘ones for the purpose lor which they are actuelly intended, namely, drinking, The Bauhaus wos closed about the time the streamline mania be- gon, but it would have rejected the streamlined form for objects such os cocktail shakers and fountain pens where its use is nonsense. Typical Bauhaus designs, whether for chairs, lighting fixtures or ash trays, are free of both modernistic and streamlined aberrations: sound *""Modernitic" con however be apolied with reason to many Bavhous objects designed during the first few yoors ‘f trol ond error at Weimar in the early "westios Ed,Bauhaus training would not permit them, After its first few experimental years the Bou- haus ochieved forthright modern forms which were the result of four important factors: (|) The form of the object is determined by its use. A choir is something to sit in; the design- er of o chair would begin by studying sitting— the different postures for dining or reading, pos- tures conditioned, too, by the clothes of todoy. (2) The form is also influenced by the mate- tial. Metel and wood have very different prop- erties of strength ond flexioility: they are not naturally used in the some way; a wood chair should not take the form of « tubular steel chair. (3) The form is the result of some process of manufacture. Certain forms ate the natural re- sult of berding and would be unnatural and dif- ficult to effect by cutting. One process will be efficient in mass production, another extrava- gont. The firished product will have the chor- acter of the precess used in making it (4) The finished form is the creation ol the de- signer. From a variety of forms, materials and processes of menulacture which may be equal- ly practicable, he will choose those which his taste dictates and will combine them ond per- fect the results. His inventiveness and practical knowledge must be coordinated by his esthetic Ciscipline if @ distinguished design is to result. The final form will not be the result meraly of fl- filing the exigencies of use, material and fob: cation:it must have something more, intangible, but none the less real, something at home in the contemporary cultural climate, related to the generic forms used in the other arts. The best Bauhaur objects chow these quolities with singular dirsciness. Thie is why fow of thom seom dated after o dozon years. They were never meant fo be “in style" or "the last word of 1928," but wore honest and often distinguished. JOHN McANOREW Curator of Architecture and Industrial Act PRO AND CON IN THE NEW YORK PRESS "You mustn't miss the new exhibition, Bauhaus 1919-1928."—Cue "a forlorn gesture"—Sun “convincing demonstration of wide scope and Refailing Art News “a living idea continues to be oracular, even though the Bouhaus itself... has ceased to function."—Times “clumsily instolled"—Sun «for the excellent character of the Retailing force of Bauhaus teachings Con epitaph to the Bauhaus "Tho survey is chaotic . . . disorganized prom- iscuity .. the organizers might heve conducted Us (without recourse to that cheap sidewalk de- vice of footprints painted on the floor)."~Times "The show was installed by Herbert Bayer, one of the former masters of the Bauhous. It com- prises about 700 individual items. They fill all the museum's not too spacious galleries, and the very foct thot the result is not confusing, that there ore clority, emphasis and drama in the ‘arrangement (even the floors, traditionally not part of the exhibition, are decorated with paint- ed guide lines, footprinis and obstract forms which not only direct the visitor step by step through the exhibition, but beor artistic relation to the physical shape of each gellery and the type of objects disoloyed in it) exemplifies for one thing the effectiveness o! Bouhaus principles of exhibition technique.”"—World-Telegram ‘magnificent textiles"—Art News ‘unfortuncte textiles""—Sun "a final danse macabre"—letter in the Times Tinest thing in existence"—letter in the Times ‘The Modern Museum has never better demon- strated its function as a laboratory for the anal- ysis of latter-day experimentation." —Herald Tribune‘The first room of the exhibit illustrates, for the most part, the werk of su doris in the. Proliminary Course of the Bauhaus, 1919-1928: investigation of the technisal and esthetic properies of simple mote. Flak: in connection with the study of abstract form and space design. Al the let Albers’ clossos: of the fight: Moholy-Nagy’s: ia the center ore constrvce Vion in gelvonized iron Experiments in the toch- sical ond tactile. proper- ties of woed. The long ob- ject ot the front is to be stroked from right 10 left for a varied sequence of ‘acile experionce:—aemall ‘scenic tollway" for the ‘ingor tips. (Work of the New foviour, Chicoge, 1937-38) Experimental constrve- tions made by students in the Preliminary Course. The poper tower was made by slitting ord folding o single reetorgulor sheet, without wasting any of the material. The construction ft the lett is mode up of sheet iron peralialograms soldered together ard od reilly balanced. Smell poisting gallery, with The Bouhous Stoirs by the Bashave master, Oskor Schlemmer, 1929, lent to the exhibition by Philip Jobnson. One of the mast info ‘ental filds of dosign ot the Boukous wos that of lighting ficturas. Mony in commen use today stem from ‘hese pioneer su dort works. (Boukous Met- ‘al Workshop)Herbert Bayer, whi os semoled ond irstollad mest of the exhibition looking through the peephole ot the revolving dummies ‘wearing Schlommers Tria die Ballet costumes, one of which is chown in tha pho- tograph ot the right, ‘The pointing onthe floor '& more thon @ decoration, for it guides the visitor through the whole exhib Yion in the proper order. The choir in tho conter [olso large photograph ove it) is an inportart monument historique of modern furniture for it ie the fist choir of metal tub ing. I wor designed. in 1928 by Marcel Brover who hod been o studest ot the Bauhaus since 1920 Already its descondan's fre inealeslablo in num ber and variety. Fore: ground: vitrines with ob; incts from the Metal Worl: Instellotion of Bovhous rugs. |Boshavs Weoving Werlshop| Samples rom the Weov- ing Workshop, includieg woven horschair ond wail coverings of woven cello shone with special ocout ‘ie properies. Typearephy: poe bookjackot: ond alpha! rationalized to very simple The Bauhaus was fertile in imaginative inrovetions in photography.Photogrophs of work fom the Sculpture Work shop. Some of the photo graphs ore applied to the wall, others oro. hung in front of # by fine wir The Bauhaus pedosos: icol idea in America: work done ot the Labsrctory School for Industral De. tign in New Yerk Werk done ot Black Mourtaie College, North Carolina, under the direc Hon of lormar Bouhaus Fronk Lloyd Wright, Pro: fessor Gropius ond Mrs Gropius at the members ‘opening, a \ DECEMBER, 1938 YOL. 5, NO. 6 THE BULLETIN Published by The Museum of Modern Art 14 West 49 Street, New York The Bulletin is a membership privilege. Single copies are for sale at 10 cents Typography ol this number by Herbert Bayer. Photographs by Sunami, Bayer and Newhall