Ludwig Grote and the Bauhaus Idea.
The Bauhaus Reception in West Germany

Reading and book announcement with the Nadine Willing-Stritzke, Peter Bernhard and Torsten Blume
Wed, 16 Sep, 6 pm
Bauhaus Building, auditorium
 

Ludwig Grote, like hardly any other art historian, has shaped the idea of the Bauhaus as an idea that reaches far beyond the historical existence of the school. With documents from his estate in the art archive of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg, this publication is the first to be comprehensively devoted to Grotes’ work as a Bauhaus ambassador. It deals with his problematic involvement in the National Socialist culture and art scene, especially his activities in the Munich art trade from 1939 to 1945, as well as his influential position in West German art policy after World War II. All of these contributions, which for the first time include a detailed biography as well as an index of his published texts and books, form a complex overall picture of a stimulating and contradictory Bauhaus art historian that has never been seen before.

As a preview of the publication of the book in the fall of 2020, the evening is dedicated to the biography and oeuvre of Ludwig Grotes, using extensive pictorial and archive material, and shedding light on the extent to which individual persons influenced the reception and historiography of the Bauhaus and continue to do so today.

Ludwig Grote and the Bauhaus Idea. The Bauhaus Reception in West Germany

Edited for the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation by Claudia Perren, Peter Bernhard and Torsten Blume
Spector Books, Leipzig, fall 2020
320 pages, numerous illustrations
Softcover
25 €