Frauhaus: The Women of the Bauhaus
Despite being marginalized, these women became the financial backbone of the Bauhaus
Light streams in through large, closely spaced windows adorned with fabric blinds that hang awkwardly from their fittings. It bounces off the particles that float through the air, giving the room a dirty, tired atmosphere. Faded scratches and chalk-like blots on the floorboards cry testimony to years of stools dragging forward and backward; in places, the floor sags under the weight of the looms spaced evenly around the room. There is something archaic in this studio: With its apathetic master and image of disrepair, it pervades an exhausted impression that reeks of a willful neglect.
This is the sight that likely greeted Gunta Stölzl when she arrived in Weimar in 1919. Upon stepping into the Bauhaus’ hazy weaving workshop and seeing the confused glances of the other students as the tutors absently welcomed them, she could be forgiven for despairing. For those attracted to the school by the promise of artistic freedom, it was an insult — a prison.
