Forgotten Bauhaus Women

The new exhibition highlights the works and fates of unknown female Bauhaus artists in the 1930s and 1940s.

The 2019 Bauhaus year drew renewed attention to the women of the Bauhaus. Yet there is still so much we do not know. For example, there is no existing biographical data on almost one third of the 460 female students who enrolled at the Bauhaus. The National Socialists’ rise to power in 1933 had an especially ominous impact on these female Bauhaus members. Some were persecuted by the Nazi regime and later murdered in the concentration camps. Others died in exile as victims of Stalinist purges, succumbed to disease, or perished in the nightly aerial bombings of World War II.

Starting on 2 October 2021, the joint project by the University of Erfurt and the Klassik Stiftung Weimar will present documents and artistic works that shed light on the largely unknown fates of more than 30 Bauhaus women.

Biographical documents and artworks reveal the broad spectrum in which the Bauhaus women were creatively engaged. They participated in all the workshops of the Bauhaus and professionally contributed to the fields of architecture, photography, advertising, bookbinding and weaving. The presentation highlights a rich collection of works, including ceramics, paintings, graphic art, sculptures and textiles.

This exhibition project is jointly developed by the Klassik Stiftung Weimar and the University of Erfurt and is made possible with funding from the Thuringian State Chancellery.