Bauhaus Textiles: Women Artists and the Weaving Workshop.

BOOKMARKS--Kent Anderson Banhaus Textiles: Women Artists and the Weaving Workshop. Sirred Wortmann Weltge. New York: Thames & Hudson, Inc. (800-233-4830), 1997. Illus. 208 pp., softcover, $27.50.

Both a renowned art school and one of the design phenomena of our century, the Bauhaus flourished in Dessau, Germany from 1919 into the early 1930s. Better known for its design and painting workshops taught BY such luminaries as Paul Klee, Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe, Moholy-Nagy, Kandinsky, Feininger and others, this handsome publication centers on the lesser known, but longest standing of all Bauhaus workshops. Sigrid Wortmann Weltge's research efforts have resulted in a superbly written and illustrated study that recreates the atmosphere of creative excitement that characterized the Bauhaus and its Weaving Workshop. The 220 illustrations, 122 in color, include rare archival photos of the women who made the workshop successful, and the results of their woven efforts. Original research and interviews with survivors and their students, as well as with leading contemporary designers detail the legacy of the workshop. Rich full-color photos illustrate both original Bauhaus weavings by Anni Albers and others, as well as more contemporary works by Lenore Tawney, Jack Lenor Larsen, and even Roy Lichtenstein. Issues of gender, design, and craftsmanship are discussed in depth in context with the Bauhaus concern for elevating the crafts to the status of the fine arts by destroying the harriers that existed at that time between craftsmen and artists. Both historically and aesthetically, this is an outstanding book that should he of interest to all who are involved in teaching or creating within the area of fiber and textiles.