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German History in Documents and Images
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Erich Consemüller, Bauhaus-Scene (1926)
Erich Consemüller (1902-1957) was a Bauhaus student from 1922 until 1929. He trained first in carpentry and then in architecture, earning diplomas in both disciplines. In 1926, he was given a commission for a series of 300 photographs documenting the work of the Bauhaus. Today, he is regarded, next to Lucia Moholy, as the most prominent documentary photographer of the Bauhaus. The photograph featured below shows a woman in one of Oskar Schlemmer’s theater masks and a dress made from fabric produced in the school’s weaving workshop; she is seated in Marcel Breuer’s now famous “Wassily chair.” The photograph blends documentation and portraiture. The subject is thought to be either Lis Beyer or Ise Gropius.