Ludwig Grote and the Bauhaus Idea
The Bauhaus Reception in West Germany. Edition Bauhaus 53
Peter Bernhard/Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau

Ludwig Grote had an almost unparalleled influence on the conception of the Bauhaus, helping shape an idea that extended far beyond the historical existence of the school. The book, which draws on documents from his estate in the German Art Archive at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg, is the first comprehensive study of Grote’s activities as an ambassador for the Bauhaus. Here his problematic connections with the Nazi cultural scene and art establishment, in particular his involvement in the art trade in Munich from 1939 to 1945, are addressed, as is his influential position in the making of arts policy in post-war West Germany. The consonance of all the different contributions, which include a detailed biography and a list of the texts and books he published, creates a complex and unprecedented overall picture of an inspiring and contradictory Bauhaus art historian. Supported by Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung.