Bauhaus women:
From Design Object to Subject

In the metal workshop – among lots of men – we would have met a slim woman with dark hair, Marianne Brandt. She significantly influenced the metal design in her day. We would surely also have met Johanna Hummel before she had to leave the school, because she had  – in contravention of the rules – sold the works she had created at the Bauhaus. In the workshop for mural painting we might have seen Lou Berkenkamp, who could often be spotted outside on the scaffolding, despite the work master opposing women’s participation. In the sculpture workshop we would probably have bumped into Ilse Fehling. This was a particular novelty, as the male sculptor was perceived as the prototype of a creator. Probably the most interesting area where one could observe women creating totally new images of women was photography: Women such as Gertrud Arndt were at work here, who staged and portrayed themselves, instead of being mere objects as they had been in painting for millennia.

The increased collaboration with industry during the Dessau period indeed brought about change. Some women took up this collaboration very energetically. A weaving student like Anni Albers advanced her innovative potential by developing materials for industrial use, such as sound absorbing fabric. Others successfully signed contracts for the Bauhaus or were even awarded patents. Take Marianne Brandt as an example. Both her and others were thus able to carve out professional careers as industrial designers.