Grand Valley State University

Design and form, the basic course at the Bauhaus, Johannes Itten ; translated by John Maass

eng

Design and form

507137

Johannes Itten ; translated by John Maass

the basic course at the Bauhaus

Here for the first time is a complete description of one of the landmarks of modern art education - the famous Basic Course at the Bauhaus in Weimar, Germany - written by the teacher who organized it at the invitation of Walter Gropius in 1919. The Bauhaus and its leaders, among them Gropius, Feininger, Itten, Muche, Schlemmer, Klee, Kandinsky and Moholy-Nagy, have had a determining influence on the development of art and teaching in the United States. -- The Basic Course was used as a trial period to judge the students with varying educational backgrounds who arrived from all parts of the country. -- Itten describes his describes his methods for encouraging the student to highly individual and creative uses of light and dark, material and texture, rhythm, expressive and subjective form, and color. Each of the 197 plates has a detailed description which will help the reader to understand the purpose of art educations. -- This is still an excellent and practical book for art educators today, as well as providing some of the best historical information on the Bauhaus

Introduction -- Light-dark -- Color -- Material and texture -- Form -- Rhythm -- Expressive forms -- Subjective forms -- A final word