Marble
University of Notre Dame
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Still Life from Fotoplastik

Date

1936

Creator

Herbert Bayer

Location

Raclin Murphy Museum of Art

Herbert Bayer attended the Bauhaus in 1921. He studied with the academy’s great professors, including Johannes Itten, Wassily Kandinsky, and Paul Klee, and became committed to the principle that fine design should be present in all phases of modern life. In spring 1925, Bayer joined the faculty as head of the Printing and Advertising Workshop. He designed Universal, a geometric sans-serif font of lower case character that became standard for all Bauhaus printing. Bayer and his wife Irene were friends of László and Lucia Moholy-Nagy. All photographers, they often took camera day trips together. The Moholy-Nagys coined the term Fotoplastik to describe a photographic object parallel to Neoplasticism in painting. Bayer created a shallow, almost trompe l’oeil tableaux and then photographed them. This image contains motifs reminiscent of his rural alpine childhood: barn doors, farm implements and animal bones, under clouds in summer skies. from Touchstones of the Twentieth Century: A History of Photography at the University of Notre Dame (exhibition, 2020-21)

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Herbert Bayer attended the Bauhaus in 1921. He studied with the academy’s great professors, including Johannes Itten, Wassily Kandinsky, and Paul Klee, and became committed to the principle that fine design should be present in all phases of modern life. In spring 1925, Bayer joined the faculty as head of the Printing and Advertising Workshop. He designed Universal, a geometric sans-serif font of lower case character that became standard for all Bauhaus printing. Bayer and his wife Irene were friends of László and Lucia Moholy-Nagy. All photographers, they often took camera day trips together. The Moholy-Nagys coined the term Fotoplastik to describe a photographic object parallel to Neoplasticism in painting. Bayer created a shallow, almost trompe l’oeil tableaux and then photographed them. This image contains motifs reminiscent of his rural alpine childhood: barn doors, farm implements and animal bones, under clouds in summer skies. from Touchstones of the Twentieth Century: A History of Photography at the University of Notre Dame (exhibition, 2020-21)
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  • Herbert Bayer attended the Bauhaus in 1921. He studied with the academy’s great professors, including Johannes Itten, Wassily Kandinsky, and Paul Klee, and became committed to the principle that fine design should be present in all phases of modern life. In spring 1925, Bayer joined the faculty as head of the Printing and Advertising Workshop. He designed Universal, a geometric sans-serif font of lower case character that became standard for all Bauhaus printing. Bayer and his wife Irene were friends of László and Lucia Moholy-Nagy. All photographers, they often took camera day trips together. The Moholy-Nagys coined the term Fotoplastik to describe a photographic object parallel to Neoplasticism in painting. Bayer created a shallow, almost trompe l’oeil tableaux and then photographed them. This image contains motifs reminiscent of his rural alpine childhood: barn doors, farm implements and animal bones, under clouds in summer skies. from Touchstones of the Twentieth Century: A History of Photography at the University of Notre Dame (exhibition, 2020-21)
  • Herbert Bayer attended the Bauhaus in 1921. He studied with the academy’s great professors, including Johannes Itten, Wassily Kandinsky, and Paul Klee, and became committed to the principle that fine design should be present in all phases of modern life. In spring 1925, Bayer joined the faculty as head of the Printing and Advertising Workshop. He designed Universal, a geometric sans-serif font of lower case character that became standard for all Bauhaus printing. Bayer and his wife Irene were friends of László and Lucia Moholy-Nagy. All photographers, they often took camera day trips together. The Moholy-Nagys coined the term Fotoplastik to describe a photographic object parallel to Neoplasticism in painting. Bayer created a shallow, almost trompe l’oeil tableaux and then photographed them. This image contains motifs reminiscent of his rural alpine childhood: barn doors, farm implements and animal bones, under clouds in summer skies. from Touchstones of the Twentieth Century: A History of Photography at the University of Notre Dame (exhibition, 2020-21)
Herbert Bayer (Austrian, 1900 - 1985)
1936
Photographs
Gelatin silver print on carte postale paper
2016.035
agricultural equipment
cirrus clouds
farming
peasants
skeleton components
© Estate of Herbert Bayer
Not on view, please request access
3 1/4 x 5 3/8 in. (8.4 x 13.7 cm)
Humana Foundation Endowment

Our collection information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. If you have spotted an error, please contact Raclin Murphy Museum of Art at RMMACollections@nd.edu.