bauhaus faces

This episode of "bauhaus faces" is about a photographer that most Bauhaus fans today know: Lucia Moholy. She was the photographer who delivered the photos of the Bauhaus in Dessau and its masters’ houses that made the art school so iconic. But it wasn’t until the 1990s that art historians became alert to her when her photos and negatives made their way into the Bauhaus-Archive in Berlin. Until then they had taken a long reroute from Germany via the US, while Lucia Moholy had thought they were lost, when in fact Bauhaus founder and first director Walter Gropius had taken them with him, denied their possession for decades and made use of them to promote the Bauhaus as the ultimate epitome of the avantgarde without ever mentioning their creator: Lucia Moholy.

But her life and work were so much more! When she was in danger of being arrested by the Nazis, Lucia left Germany and emigrated to London. Here, she worked as a portrait photographer and – as director – set up the microfilm archive ASLIB. She never succeeded in emigrating to the US like so many other Bauhauslers although she had an offer from her ex-husband László Moholy-Nagy to come and teach photography at the New Bauhaus in Chicago.

Most of her adult life, Lucia Moholy struggled to make ends meet and gain recognition for her achievements. When she – once more – emigrated to Switzerland in 1959 (she would live and die in Zollikon near Zurich) Lucia started writing about her collaborative work with László Moholy-Nagy and her own share in it.For this episode the US art historian Robin Schuldenfrei helped to tell the story of Lucia Moholy. She has been researching Moholy for many years now.

SHOW NOTES

EXHIBITION

BOOKS BY LUCIA MOHOLY 

**PUBLICATIONS & ARTICLES ABOUT LUCIA MOHOLY **

ABOUT LUCIA MOHOLY’S BOOKS AND NEGATIVES

PHOTOS BY LUCIA MOHOLY IN ARCHIVES

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This episode is not about just one Bauhaus person, but about two. It’s the premiere of our first episode about a Bauhaus couple: Etel and Ernst Mittag, who were both students at the Bauhaus in Dessau, met there, fell in love, got married, had children and emigrated to South Africa when Etel – as a Jew – was in great danger in Europe.  

About her time at the Bauhaus from 1928 to 1930 Etel later wrote in her autobiography: “This was a new world for me. Everything was completely different from what I knew. Nothing was taken for granted. Everything had to be discussed, examined anew from different angles. […] There was almost absolute freedom from prejudice. Of course, I was completely bewildered and intimidated.”

While Etel Fodor-Mittag wrote her autobiography “Not an unusual Life, for the Time and the Place” (published by the Bauhaus-Archive Berlin in 2014), not much is known about Ernst Mittag. Until now. In this podcast their younger son Michael Mittag tries to remember as much as possible about both of his parents by remembering conversations with them, by looking at old papers of them and by talking about their work and projects.

SHOW NOTES

(AUTO-)BIOGRAPHY ABOUT ETEL FODOR-MITTAG

**PHOTOS BY ETEL FODOR-MITTAG **

RBB facts about Berlin after WWII

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This episode is dedicated to the Bauhaus master Gunta Stölzl, one of the few better-known Bauhaus women. We have already mentioned her name in the previous podcast about Stölzl’s first husband, the Israeli architect Arieh Sharon. They had a daughter, Yael, what was born in 1929, do you remember? And Ariel Aloni, my interview partner for the last episode is also Gunta Stölzl’s grandson. 

My interview partners for today’s episode are Gunta Stölzl’s younger daughter, Monika Stadler (who shares with us her personal view on her mother’s work) and the Dutch art historian Mirjam Deckers who is currently working for the Gunta Stölzl Estate and is writing her thesis about Stölzl’s work. As we already have two people talking in this podcast you will not hear much of me. My own research into Gunta Stölzl’s life and work is rather restricted, and I will therefore leave the talking to the expert and the daughter as they talk about Gunta Stölzl’s life and work in Munich (before the Bauhaus), as a student at the Bauhaus in Weimar, as a master of the weaving workshop at the Bauhaus in Dessau and with her own businesses in Switzerland (after the Bauhaus).

SHOW NOTES

GUNTA STÖLZL DIGITAL ARCHIVE

EXHIBITIONS

**MUSEUMS & COLLECTIONS WITH GUNTA STÖLZL'S WORK **

**BIOGRAPHY ABOUT GUNTA STÖLZL **

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This time I talked to Ariel Aloni. He is a grandson of even two Bauhaus students: the architect, Arieh Sharon, probably the most famous Israeli architect, and the Bauhaus weaver Gunta Stölzl, the only woman who was successful in becoming a Bauhaus master. 

As Ariel says: “There was no conversation with Sharon without the Bauhaus popping up!” And that is also true to his architecture. In his buildings in Israel and Nigeria Sharon still refers to what he had learned from Hannes Meyer and Hans Wittwer at the Bauhaus, and then elevated the concept by adapting to the climatic conditions that were very different from Northern Europe. In Nigeria he went even further and added also architectural aspects of the local Yoruba tribe. 

After a career of nearly 60 years as an architect Arieh Sharon left roughly 800 buildings and is today known as the father of Israeli architecture and as one of the consequent pursuers of Tropical Modernism. He is less known for his work as a construction site manager for the ADGB Trade Union School in Bernau near Berlin, but we will get to that project, too. 

There is no Israeli architecture prize that Sharon did not win. And even today everyone in Israel knows who Arieh Sharon is. It is time we get to him, as well. 

SHOW NOTES

ARIEH SHARON DIGITAL ARCHIVE

EXHIBITION

ARTICLES ABOUT ARIEH SHARON

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Otti Berger’s story is one full of life, ambition, and talent. There was so much for her in the cards. But her life ended tragically and abruptly when she was deported to the concentration camp Auschwitz and was murdered there shortly after. What’s left are letters and patents for her innovative fabrics. In this episode of bauhaus faces, the textile researcher and artist Judith Raum shares her research results.

**SHOW NOTES **

Book: hatjecantz.de/products/64980-otti-berger

The new "bauhaus faces" podcast is dedicated to the fascinating life stories of students and teachers of the legendary and infamous Bauhaus art school. Each episode will highlight a unique Bauhaus personality. With the help of their descendants, of researchers, and authors I will navigate you through each personal Bauhaus story.

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