Lot 56 Dα

In addition to publications such as the Bauhaus books, advertising brochures, posters and other printed material for the purpose of marketing their own artistic concerns and the Bauhaus designs, the photo postcards played an important role as an advertising measure with a supra-regional effect that radiated far into the society of the Weimar Republic. The first of these gelatine silver prints made as ‘genuine photo’ cards appeared on the occasion of the opening of the Bauhaus in Dessau in 1926, others followed in spring 1927. The majority of these cards were based on photographs taken by Lucia Moholy, the wife of the Bauhaus master László Moholy-Nagy who also worked at the Bauhaus between 1923 and 1928, such as architectural photographs, interior and exterior views of the masters’ houses and the Bauhaus building by Walter Gropius, equipped with furniture by Marcel Breuer, among others. Furthermore, she reproduced two paintings by Georg Muche and Paul Klee as well as an object photograph of a lamp by Marianne Brandt from the metal workshop. Erich Consemüller, who was commissioned by Walter Gropius in 1927 to produce a photographic documentation of the Bauhaus, contributed further object photographs, including a wall hanging by Gunta Stölzl and the famous tubular steel club chair by Marcel Breuer. The collection also comprises a Junkers aerial photograph of the Bauhaus building by as well as art reproductions of various other, lesser-known photographers from Bauhaus circles.
The exact number of Bauhaus postcards produced is unknown. The group of 20 well-preserved, unused postcards presented here is one of the most extensive collections of Bauhaus postcards offered for auction to date.
We would like to thank Professor Dr. Rolf Sachsse, Bonn, for helpful information.


Further images on request.