Bauhaus Centenary Exhibition at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen

A major exhibition at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, titled 'netherlands ⇄ bauhaus – pioneers of a new world', explores the Bauhaus movement's centenary and its deep connections with the Netherlands. The show runs until May 26, 2019. The Bauhaus was founded in 1919 by Walter Gropius in Weimar, Germany, drawing inspiration from both the Deutscher Werkbund (founded 1907) and the more romantic Der Sturm movement. Key influences came from the Dutch De Stijl group, particularly Theo van Doesburg and Vilmos Huszár, though disagreements persisted over color use in architecture. The exhibition traces three phases of Bauhaus: an early utopian period (1919–1923) with teachers like Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, Josef Albers, and Oskar Schlemmer; a rationalist phase after 1925 in Dessau focusing on industrial design; and a final phase under Ludwig Mies van der Rohe from 1930 emphasizing architecture and urban planning. The school was forced to close in 1933 under Nazi pressure, with Gropius and van der Rohe shutting it in 1935. Many Bauhaus members emigrated to the Netherlands, influencing Dutch design organizations VANK and IvKNO. Post-war legacy includes Asger Jorn's 'imaginary Bauhaus' through the CO.BRA group, Max Bill's industrial design focus, and the continued work of Gropius, van der Rohe, and Marcel Breuer in the United States. The exhibition highlights ongoing Dutch rationalist architecture, from J.J.P. Oud to Rem Koolhaas.