The Bauhaus was a progressive German art and design school founded by the architect Walter Gropius that operated from 1919 to 1933. Authentic Bauhaus furniture — sofas, dining chairs, tables and more — and the school’s followers married industrial and natural materials in simple, geometric forms. The goal of the Bauhaus was to erase the distinction between art and craft while embracing the use of new technologies and materials.
ORIGINS OF BAUHAUS FURNITURE DESIGN
CHARACTERISTICS OF BAUHAUS FURNITURE DESIGN
BAUHAUS FURNITURE DESIGNERS YOU SHOULD KNOW
AUTHENTIC BAUHAUS FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS
The name Bauhaus is derived from the German verb bauen, “to build.” Under the school’s innovative curriculum, students were taught the fine arts, such as painting and sculpture, as well as practical skills like carpentry and metalworking.
The school moved from Weimar in 1925 to the city of Dessau, where it enjoyed its heyday under Gropius, then Hannes Meyer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The period from 1932 to 1933 when it operated in Berlin under Mies was its final chapter. Despite its brief existence, the Bauhaus has had an enduring impact on art and design in the United States and elsewhere, and is regarded by many as the 20th century’s chief crucible of modernism.
The faculty roster at the Bauhaus reads like a who’s who of modernist creative genius — it included such artists as Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky and László Moholy-Nagy along with architects and designers like Mies and Marcel Breuer, who became known for his muscular brutalist-style concrete buildings in the postwar years. In 1925, while he was head of the Bauhaus carpentry workshop, Breuer gave form to his signature innovation: the use of lightweight tubular-steel frames for chairs, side tables and sofas — a technique soon adopted by Mies and others. Breuer’s Cesca chair was the first-ever tubular steel frame chair with a caned seat to be mass produced, while the inspiration for his legendary Wassily chair, a timeless design and part of the collection crafted to furnish the Dessau school, was the bike he rode around campus.
Bauhaus design style reflects the tenets by which these creators worked: simplicity, clarity and function. They disdained superfluous ornament in favor of precise construction. Seating pieces such as side chairs, armchairs or club chairs for example, were made with tubular metal or molded plywood frames, and upholstery was made from leather or cane. Above all, designs in the Bauhaus style offer aesthetic flexibility. They can be the elements of a wholly spare, minimalist space, the quiet foundation of an environment in which color and pattern come from one’s own collection of art and artifacts.
Today, from textiles to typefaces, architecture, furniture and decorative objects for the home, Bauhaus creations continue to have an outsize influence on modern design.
Find a collection of authentic Bauhaus furniture on 1stDibs.
Cubist Terrazzo Concrete Sculpture, Abstract Female Form, Circa 1970s
By David Marshall, Brancusi, Amedeo Modigliani, Constantin Brancusi 2, Henry Moore
Located in Round Top, TX
Striking one-of-a-kind cast concrete sculpture in a terrazzo finish, featuring an abstracted Cubist female form. The faceted surface and stylized geometry reference both Brutalism an...
Concrete, Composition
French Concrete Frog
Located in Haywards Heath, GB
Original green paint 1940s
Concrete
$1,800
H 22.75 in W 12 in D 17 in
Midcentury Painted Concrete Pelican Sculpture on Base with Distressed Patina
Located in Atlanta, GA
A painted concrete pelican sculpture from the mid 20th century, with nicely distressed patina. Created during the midcentury period, this statue captures our attention with its charm...
Concrete
$2,650
H 75 in W 20.75 in D 20 in
1970s Garden Art - Yard Statue - Concrete Indian Theme Totem Pole - 75 Inch Tall
Located in St. Louis, MO
Vintage 1970s Native American Pacific Northwest Indian theme totem pole, ideal sculpture or statue for the yard or garden. This totem pole is 75" h, has faded white paint on the fron...
Concrete
$6,800Sale Price / set|20% Off
H 16 in W 28 in D 11 in
1920s Whippet Greyhound Dogs Concrete Entryway Wall Sculptures Vintage Mansion
Located in Hyattsville, MD
Large Heavy Greyhound Statues for Driveway Entry. Possibly English Made but procured in the states. Sold as found at the estate. These should be repainted if you want to use them ou...
Concrete
Life-Size Cast Concrete Deer Sculpture, Rustic Garden Accent
Located in Bradenton, FL
Life-Size Painted Cast Concrete Stag Deer Sculpture. This deer statue is modeled with realistic proportions and hand-painted in naturalistic woodland colors. Standing proudly at over four feet tall, this impressive garden figure captures the grace and quiet strength of a mature stag in mid-stride, with alert posture, finely detailed antlers, expressive eyes, and textured grassy base. The sculpture is painted in warm tan and with contrasting black hooves and eyes and white antlers, creating a highly decorative and lifelike presence. Constructed of durable cast concrete, it was designed to withstand the elements while serving as a dramatic focal point in the landscape. Deer have long symbolized nobility, grace, and harmony with nature. Stag sculptures have been prized as decorative landscape features for centuries. Large deer sculptures...
Concrete
$1,200
H 16 in W 17 in D 8.25 in
Large Italian Hand Painted Ceramic Swan Sculpture Planter or Jardinière - 1970s
Located in Oklahoma City, OK
A very large Italian ceramic swan tureen, centerpiece, or planter. This lovely Hollywood Regency piece is from Italy and hand-painted in a lovely ...
Ceramic, Paint
$30,000 / item
H 480 in W 144 in D 89 in
Contemporary Large-Scale Outdoor Kinetic Concrete Sculpture and Installation
By Johnny Poux
Located in kingston, NY
Johnny Poux sculptures Johnny Poux’s large-scale kinetic concrete sculptures and installations explore the relationship between motion and mass, industry and nature. Each piece is made individually to order. Artist statement My work as an artist has been focused primarily on large-scale kinetic pieces that explore my unyielding fascination with simple machine principles, movement, and the beauty and physics of a large mass in motion. Working with industrial materials like concrete and steel, and occasionally combining these with natural forms or living things like trees, my work is often about the tension between man and nature and our technological footprint. I am drawn to creating large-scale work that moves, evokes feelings of wonder, is interactive, and alters our relationship to the world for a moment. I have built and installed 30 foot tall steel kinetic pieces that span a full 40’ circle as if in flight and have created 1000 lb. concrete pieces that ripple like water in the historic cement mines of Rosendale, NY. I have balanced and counter weighted a 55’ tall black walnut tree...
Concrete, Bronze, Steel
Concrete Soldier Statue circa 1900 Chicago Area Garden
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Exceptional 6 ft. tall American Folk Art concrete soldier statue with original paint surface and inset glass 'gem.' Fantastic workmanship. Originally pa...
Concrete
$1,595
H 42.1 in W 20.3 in D 14.4 in
French Concrete Girl Sculpture, Mid-20th Century, Garden Decor, 1970s
Located in High Point, NC
This 1970s French concrete sculpture depicts a young girl rendered with a gentle, classical sensibility and a naturally aged surface. The figure is shown standing in a relaxed pose, ...
Concrete
1940s Concrete Bulldog
Located in Tarrytown, NY
Out of a Sag Harbor, NY Estate, this concrete bulldog can now guard your home.
Abstract Cubist Iron American Church Crucifix
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Vintage iron abstract cubist crucifix from American Church. Found in the midwest. Great detail. Quite heavy.
Iron
Set of Four Seasons Sculptures in Patinated Iron, 1970s
Located in Madrid, ES
Impressive set of four monumental sculptures representing the allegorical figures of the Four Seasons. Crafted in patinated iron during the 1970s, each figure takes the form of a win...
Wrought Iron