Description
Herbert Bayer created this important image for the 2nd issue of “bauhaus” magazine in 1928. Offered here is the is the original cover. It is in mint condition and is matted with a black metal frame. 8.5 x 11.5 inches. in a 13 x 17 inch frame. Extremely rare and collectible.
“Moholy-Nagy’s last year at the Bauhaus was 1928, and typography director Herbert Bayer, who had already begun overhauling the printed face of the school in letterheads and postcards, took over design of the magazine in its second year. His debut cover design would become one of the most recognizable. It is almost entirely photographic, a kind of semi-abstract, still-life presentation of Bauhaus tools (pencil and set square) and elemental forms (cone, sphere, and cube), each casting dramatic shadows. These shapes and shadows are all sitting atop or overlaying a carefully placed, folded copy of the second issue of “bauhaus,” with the pencil and a rectangular prism both pointing at the logotype.
This technique of using photograph-of-nameplate as nameplate is not only a clever trick, but it also serves to establish continuity between the magazine of the previous year (in newspaper format) and the new one (now published in traditional magazine format). The number and year of the previous issue in the photograph are strategically covered by the cube and sphere, and Bayer’s sole typographic addition, a faint grey “1”, floats above the set square near the top edge.” —description from Letterform Archives
