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Herbert Bayer Prints and Multiples

Austrian, American, 1900-1985

The Austrian-born Herbert Bayer is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential graphic artists of his time, but his extensive achievements span a spectrum of disciplines. The artistic polymath made his mark as a photographer and master of photomontage, a typography creator, magazine art director, advertising guru, architect and more.

As a student in the early 1920s at the Bauhaus — the revolutionary German art and design school in Weimar that sought to integrate art and design into daily life — Bayer studied under Russian-born Wassily Kandisnsky, who became his mentor, and was greatly influenced by Kandinsky’s book Concerning the Spiritual in Art, heartily embracing its premise that the arts can and should serve society.

Bayer left the Bauhaus in 1923 to tour Italy with a friend, then rejoined two years later, hired to teach advertising, design and typography at the school’s new home, in Dessau. There, he designed catalogues, featuring photography and machine-based printing, that promoted Bauhaus-made “goods for the home,” including handmade furniture, wallpaper and housewares. And he created a new “universal” alphabet: a streamlined sans serif restricted to lower-case letters that became the Bauhaus’s signature font.

Bayer quit teaching at the Bauhaus along with founder Walter Gropius and fellow teachers Marcel Breuer and László Maholy-Nagy when the school’s finances grew strained. He became the art director of German Vogue, moving on, when the magazine closed during the Depression, to the ad agency Dorland International, where he created the advertisements for clothing, textiles, toothpaste and nose drops on view. He also did magazine covers and outdoor billboards and masterminded the design of several important international exhibitions, including the German section of the 1930 Exposition de la Société des artistes décorateurs in Paris.

By 1938, Bayer had become dismayed by the political situation in Germany, and at the invitation of Gropius — who was then chair of the architecture department at Harvard, having fled the Nazi regime in 1934 — he left for the United States. Gropius had been asked to curate an exhibition on the Bauhaus for the Museum of Modern Art, but he didn’t have time and so asked Bayer to help. Bayer ultimately did it all, including gathering material in Germany, creating the exhibition plan and overseeing the catalogue. The show traveled throughout the U.S., and Bayer’s stateside career took off.

In the early 1940s, Bayer served as chief art director at Wanamaker’s and worked in advertising and package design at J. Walter Thompson. In 1945, he began a long stint working full-time at the Container Corporation of America (CCA). He created CCA’s long-running series “Great Ideas of Western Man,” which aimed to enlighten the public through inspiring quotes. Additionally, Bayer designed sculptures, wall murals, furniture, earth art and buildings for the Aspen Institute between 1946 and 1975.

Bayer’s work demonstrates how one man, and one school, changed the evolution of contemporary graphics in America over a 40-year period.

Find original Herbert Bayer prints and paintings on 1stDibs.

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Artist: Herbert Bayer
Original poster made for the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Bauhaus
Original poster made for the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Bauhaus

Original poster made for the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Bauhaus

By Herbert Bayer

Located in PARIS, FR

A beautiful poster made for the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Bauhaus at the National Museum of Modern Art, by Herbert Bayer 🇺🇸 (1900-1985), a designer, painter, architec...

Category

1960s Abstract Herbert Bayer Prints and Multiples

Materials

Paper, Lithograph

Free Arrangements of Equal Parts Geometric Abstract Screenprint by Herbert Bayer
Free Arrangements of Equal Parts Geometric Abstract Screenprint by Herbert Bayer

Free Arrangements of Equal Parts Geometric Abstract Screenprint by Herbert Bayer

By Herbert Bayer

Located in Long Island City, NY

Free Arrangements of Equal Parts by Herbert Bayer, Austrian (1900–1985) Date: circa 1968 Screenprint, signed and numbered in pencil Edition of 12/75 Size: 29.75 x 29.5 in. (75.57 x 7...

Category

1960s Abstract Geometric Herbert Bayer Prints and Multiples

Materials

Screen

Triangulated Squares, Geometric Abstract Bauhaus Screenprint by Herbert Bayer
Triangulated Squares, Geometric Abstract Bauhaus Screenprint by Herbert Bayer

Triangulated Squares, Geometric Abstract Bauhaus Screenprint by Herbert Bayer

By Herbert Bayer

Located in Long Island City, NY

Artist: Herbert Bayer, Austrian (1900 - 1985) Title: Triangulated Squares Year: 1969 Medium: Screenprint, signed in pencil Size: 32 in. x 33 in. (81.28 cm x 83.82 cm) Printed at Kel...

Category

1960s Bauhaus Herbert Bayer Prints and Multiples

Materials

Screen

Two Warped Corners, Geometric Abstract Screenprint by Herbert Bayer

Two Warped Corners, Geometric Abstract Screenprint by Herbert Bayer

By Herbert Bayer

Located in Long Island City, NY

Two Warped Corners Herbert Bayer, Austrian (1900–1985) Date: 1973 Screenprint, signed and numbered in pencil Edition of 5/50 Image Size: 29.75 x 29.75 inches Size: 32 in. x 32 in. (8...

Category

1970s Abstract Geometric Herbert Bayer Prints and Multiples

Materials

Screen

New Nucleus, Geometric Abstract Screenprint by Herbert Bayer

New Nucleus, Geometric Abstract Screenprint by Herbert Bayer

By Herbert Bayer

Located in Long Island City, NY

New Nucleus Herbert Bayer, Austrian (1900–1985) Date: 1973 Screenprint, signed and numbered in pencil Edition of 7/50 Image Size: 29.75 x 29.75 inches Size: 32 in. x 32 in. (81.28 cm...

Category

1970s Abstract Geometric Herbert Bayer Prints and Multiples

Materials

Screen

12. Untitled, Framed Geometric Bauhaus Offset Lithograph by Herbert Bayer
12. Untitled, Framed Geometric Bauhaus Offset Lithograph by Herbert Bayer

12. Untitled, Framed Geometric Bauhaus Offset Lithograph by Herbert Bayer

By Herbert Bayer

Located in Long Island City, NY

A print from the CCA folio of Herbert Bayer published in 1965. Nicely framed. 12. Untitled Herbert Bayer, Austrian (1900–1985) Date: 1965 Offset Lithograph Image Size: 10.5 x 13.5 i...

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1960s Bauhaus Herbert Bayer Prints and Multiples

Materials

Offset

Tender Picture E, Bauhaus Offset Lithograph by Herbert Bayer
Tender Picture E, Bauhaus Offset Lithograph by Herbert Bayer

Tender Picture E, Bauhaus Offset Lithograph by Herbert Bayer

By Herbert Bayer

Located in Long Island City, NY

A print from the CCA folio of Herbert Bayer published in 1965. Nicely framed. Tender Picture E Herbert Bayer, Austrian (1900–1985) Date: 1928 (1965) Offset Lithograph Image Size: 9 ...

Category

1960s Bauhaus Herbert Bayer Prints and Multiples

Materials

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Herbert Bayer 1948 Convolution Abstract Lithograph Bauhaus Modernism
Herbert Bayer 1948 Convolution Abstract Lithograph Bauhaus Modernism

Herbert Bayer 1948 Convolution Abstract Lithograph Bauhaus Modernism

By Herbert Bayer

Located in Denver, CO

A rare and museum-quality original 1948 lithograph by Herbert Bayer, this iconic work titled Convolution is a striking example of Bauhaus-influenced abstract modernism. The composit...

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1940s Abstract Herbert Bayer Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

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Original exhibition poster by Herbert Bayer for the exhibition "50 Jahre Bauhaus" from 5 May - 28 July 1968 at Württembergischer Kunstverein in Stuttgart, Germany. Herbert Bayer (19...

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Located in Long Island City, NY

A print from the CCA folio of Herbert Bayer published in 1965. Nicely framed. Composite Structure Herbert Bayer, Austrian (1900–1985) Date: 1951 (1965) Offset Lithograph Frame Size:...

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Cosmorama #9, Bauhaus Print by Herbert Bayer

Cosmorama #9, Bauhaus Print by Herbert Bayer

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Located in Long Island City, NY

A print from the CCA folio of Herbert Bayer published in 1965. Nicely framed. Cosmorama #9 Herbert Bayer, Austrian (1900–1985) Date: 1957 (1965) Offset Lithograph Frame Size: 16.5 x...

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Herbert Bayer
Herbert Bayer

Herbert BayerHerbert Bayer, 1965

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Herbert Bayer

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Artist: Herbert Bayer, Austrian (1900 - 1985) Title: Grid Year: 1967 Medium: Silkscreen, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 93/100 Size: 20 x 20 inches

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This screenprint was created by Austrian artist Herbert Bayer. Bayer, an architect, sculptor, and graphic artist, was greatly influenced by the Bauhaus movement. His experience range...

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Abstract Screenprint, 1969
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Herbert Bayer prints and multiples for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Herbert Bayer prints and multiples available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of prints and multiples to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of red and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Herbert Bayer in screen print, lithograph, offset print and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the abstract style. Not every interior allows for large Herbert Bayer prints and multiples, so small editions measuring 15 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Ilya Bolotowsky, Gordon House, and Jean Deyrolle. Herbert Bayer prints and multiples prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $650 and tops out at $5,500, while the average work can sell for $1,200.