Herbert Bayer (American, born Austria. 1900–1985)

Bayer was affiliated with the Bauhaus for eight of its fourteen years of existence: first as a student, from 1921, and then a master of the advertising and printing workshops, starting in 1925. In 1928, when the school’s founding director Walter Gropius resigned due to mounting political and financial pressure, Bayer, Marcel Breuer, and László Moholy-Nagy also left in solidarity. In homage to the Bauhaus’s achievements under Gropius, these men worked closely together on the Section Allemande (German Section) of the Exposition of the Society of Artists and Decorators presented in Paris in 1930.

Bayer went on to head the Berlin branch of the Dorland advertising agency, and remained in Germany until 1938, when he emigrated to the United States. Working closely with Walter and Ise Gropius and the curator John McAndrew, Bayer developed a striking installation for Bauhaus: 1919–1928, which opened at The Museum of Modern Art in New York in December 1938, an exhibition that again highlighted Gropius’s tenure. In 1944, Bayer married Joella Syrara Haweis (1907–2004), daughter of the poet Mina Loy and former wife of the gallerist Julian Levy. Between 1946 and 1975 Bayer and Haweis lived in Colorado, where Bayer’s archive now resides. In his final years, Bayer worked closely with the collector, dealer, and author Arthur Cohen on the authoritative monograph of Bayer’s work, which was published in 1984.

Berman has noted that his acquisition of Bayer’s Section Allemande poster in the early 1970s was decisive in directing his collecting toward avant-garde works. Many of Berman’s Bayers derive from Joella Bayer’s collection via Cohen.

A number of works from the collection were presented in the exhibition Herbert Bayer: Bauhaus Master at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York (November 16, 2019–April 26, 2020), which was accompanied by a book by Ellen Lupton.

Herbert Bayer
Design for signage for the Bauhaus Exhibition, Weimar, 1923
Pencil, ink, and gouache on paper
12 x 3 3/4” (30.5 x 9.5 cm)

Herbert Bayer
Maquette for postcard announcing the Bauhaus Exhibition, Weimar, 1923
Gouache, ink, and pencil on paper
3 13/16 x 5 3/4” (9.6 x 14.4 cm)

Herbert Bayer
Poster: Art and Bookstore Karl Rauch, Six Lectures (Winter 1925–1926), 1925
Photolithograph and letterpress
22 7/8 x 16 3/8” (52.2 x 41.5 cm)

Herbert Bayer
Cover of sales catalogue: The Bauhaus, Catalogue of Designs, 1925
Letterpress
11 3/4 x 8 1/4” (30 x 21 cm)

Herbert Bayer
Prospectus: Bauhaus Dessau (April 1927), 1927
Letterpress and offset
8 3/16 x 5 3/4” (20.8 x 14.6 cm)

Herbert Bayer
Calling card: Herbert Bayer, Dessau Bauhaus, advertising design and execution, February 1928
Letterpress
4 3/16 x 5 7/8” (10.8 x 14.8 cm)

Herbert Bayer
Brochure: Detmold Forest, c. 1930
Halftone and letterpress
8 1/4 x 8 3/16” (20.9 x 20.7 cm) 

Herbert Bayer
Poster: Our Allies Need Eggs, Your Farm Can Help. A poster for the NYC WPA War Services, c. 1942
Lithograph
20 1/8 x 30” (51.1 x 76.2 cm)

Herbert Bayer
Maquette for postcard announcing the Bauhaus Exhibition, Weimar, 1923
Gouache on paper
5 15/16 x 4” (15.1 x 10.2 cm)

Herbert Bayer
Maquette for postcard announcing the Bauhaus Exhibition, Weimar, 1923
Gouache, ink, pencil, and cut paper on paper
3 11/16 x 5 7/8” (9.2 x 14.8 cm)

Herbert Bayer
Poster: Professor Hans Poelzig, Slide Lecture on Architecture presented by Der Kreis der Freunde (Circle of Friends) of the Bauhaus (February 26, 1926), 1926
Lithograph
18 7/8 x 25 1/2” (47.9 x 64.8 cm)

Herbert Bayer
Stationery: Circle of Friends of the Bauhaus, 1925
Letterpress
Format A4: 11 5/8 x 8 3/16” (29.5 x 20.7 cm)

Herbert Bayer
Poster: Bauhaus Standard Wallpaper, manufactured by Rasch & Co., Bramsche, c. 1927
Lithograph and adhered wallpaper sample on paper
19 3/4 x 12 3/4” (50.2 x 32.4 cm)

Herbert Bayer
Poster: Exhibition of European Applied Arts, Grassi Museum, Leipzig (March 6–August 15, 1927), 1927
Lithograph
35 5/16 x 26 9/16” (89.7 x 67.5 cm)

Herbert Bayer
Poster: IBA: 8. Internationale Büro Ausstellung (Eighth International Exhibition for Office Furniture), Berlin (September 7–16, 1934), 1934
Offset lithograph
46 3/8 x 33” (118 x 84 cm)

Herbert Bayer
Poster: Polio Research, 1949
Lithograph
44 1/2 x 29” (113.0 x 73.7 cm)

Herbert Bayer
Maquette for postcard announcing the Bauhaus Exhibition, Weimar, 1923
Gouache on paper
6 1/16 x 4 1/8” (15 x 10 cm)

Herbert Bayer
Design for signage announcing crafts display at the Grassi Museum, Leipzig, 1925
Gouache and pencil on paper
3 5/16 x 4 15/16” (8.3 x 12.3 cm)

Herbert Bayer
Invitation: Topping-out ceremony for the new Bauhaus (March 21, 1926), 1926
Lithograph
6 x 8 3/8” (15.2 x 21.3 cm)

Herbert Bayer
Invitation: The White Party, Bauhaus Dessau (March 20, 1926), 1926
Letterpress
8 3/8 x 11 3/8” (20.7 x 28.6 cm)

Herbert Bayer
Journal cover: Bauhaus: Zeitschrift für Bau und Gestaltung (Magazine for Building and Design), vol. 2, no. 1 (February 15, 1928), 1928
Photolithograph
11 5/8 x 8 1/4” (29.5 x 21 cm)

Herbert Bayer
Design for portable exhibition stand for Ventzky Agricultural Machines, 1928
Pencil, gouache, paste, and halftone photograph
19 5/8 x 26 3/16” (49.8 x 66.5 cm)

Herbert Bayer
Poster: Trade Fair for Restaurants, Hotels, Backers, and Patisseries, Kaiserdamm Exhibition Hall, Berlin (October 5–10, 1935), 1935
Lithograph
46 x 50 1/8” (116.8 x 127.3 cm)

Herbert Bayer
Maquette for postcard announcing the Bauhaus Exhibition, Weimar, 1923
Gouache, ink, and pencil on paper
5 15/16 x 4 1/16” (15.1 x 10.3 cm)

Herbert Bayer
Design for signage announcing crafts at the Grassi Museum, Leipzig, 1925
Gouache and pencil on paper
4 x 6 15/16” (10 x 17.3 cm)

Herbert Bayer
Poster: Ernst May, Lecture on New Architecture in Frankfurt am Main (January 29, 1927), 1927
Lithograph
23 1/4 x 18 1/8” (59.3 x 46.7 cm)

Herbert Bayer
Invitation: Beards Noses Hearts Festival, Bauhaus Dessau (March 31, 1928), 1928
Letterpress
5 13/16 x 16 5/8” (15.0 x 42.2 cm)

Herbert Bayer
Stationery: Das Bauhaus in Dessau, 1926–1928
Letterpress
Format A4: 11 5/16 x 8 3/16” (28.6 x 20.7 cm)

Herbert Bayer
Poster: Section Allemande (German Section) of the Exposition of the Society of Artists and Decorators, Grand Palais, Paris (May 14–July 13, 1930), 1930
Photolithograph
62 1/4 x 46 1/8” (158.2 x 117.3 cm)
Formerly Merrill C. Berman Collection; now Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard Art Museums

Herbert Bayer
Poster: German People—German Work Exhibition, Berlin (April 21–June 3, 1934), 1934
Lithograph
39 1/4 x 28” (99.9 x 71 cm)

Deaccessioned Works

Herbert Bayer
Wall-painting study for the stairwell of the Weimar Bauhaus building on the occasion of the Bauhaus Exhibition, Weimar, 1923
Gouache, ink, and pencil on paper, cut-and-pasted on paper with pencil
26 1/8 × 15 3/4″ (66.3 × 40 cm)
Formerly Merrill C. Berman Collection; now The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Herbert Bayer
Dachreklame (Roof Advertisement), 1923
Promotional design for glass painter Ernst Kraus
Gouache, ink, and pencil on paper
11 1/4 × 8 3/8″ (28.6 × 21.3 cm)
Formerly Merrill C. Berman Collection; now The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Herbert Bayer
Poster design (unrealized) for Bauhaus Exhibition, Weimar, 1923
Gouache, ink, and pencil on paper
18 1/16 × 11 7/8″ (45.8 × 30.2 cm)
Formerly Merrill C. Berman Collection; now The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Herbert Bayer
Dachreklame/Teilweise transparent (Roof Advertisement/Partially Transparent), 1923
Promotional design for glass painter Ernst Kraus
Gouache, ink, and pencil on paper
11 1/4 × 8 7/16″ (28.5 × 21.4 cm)
Formerly Merrill C. Berman Collection; now The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Herbert Bayer
Design for an exhibition stand for electrical company, 1924
Gouache, ink, pencil, and cut-and-pasted printed paper on board
26 3/8 × 14 15/16″ (67 × 38 cm)
Formerly Merrill C. Berman Collection; now The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Herbert Bayer
Promotional design for glass painter Ernst Kraus, 1923
Gouache, ink, and pencil on paper
11 1/4 × 8 3/8″ (28.5 × 21.3 cm)
Formerly Merrill C. Berman Collection; now The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Herbert Bayer
Wirkung der Transparente vom Bahnhof gesehen (Effect of Banners Seen from the Train Station), 1923
Promotional design for glass painter Ernst Kraus
Ink, gouache, and pencil on paper, cut-and-pasted on paper with pencil
11 1/4 × 8 7/16″ (28.5 × 21.4 cm)
Formerly Merrill C. Berman Collection; now The Museum of Modern Art, New York

The works shown here represent only a selection from the collection. Please contact us for further inquiry.