A large sphere mounted on an axis like a globe.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

A large circle stands in white space, a pole emerging from the top and from the bottom where it connects to a flat square base. A thin gray hoop encircles it, intersecting with the poles, and as it appears to go behind the sphere, we see that the underside of the hoop is red. In the white space to the right is a small black and white photo of a walking man. The man is no taller than the part of the pole that is visible below the sphere, suggesting that the sphere is very tall. The sphere is black and covered in many small white circles, with a single circle at center and concentric rings of smaller circles expanding outward, the smallest circles forming the outermost ring. From left to right across its middle in red are the letters, “R” “C” and a partial letter wrapping around the right side, either “C” or “O”.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
BR48.105
People
Herbert Bayer, American (Haag, Austria 1900 - 1985 Santa Barbara, CA)
Title
Design for an Illuminated Advertising Sphere
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
1924
Culture
German
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/221192

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Black and red inks and opaque watercolor over traces of graphite with collage of cut and printed papers on off white wove paper
Technique
Collage
Dimensions
52.4 x 49.1 cm (20 5/8 x 19 5/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Collection of the artist (1924 - 1948) gift; to the Busch-Reisinger Museum

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum, Gift of the artist
Copyright
© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
Accession Year
1948
Object Number
BR48.105
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Charles Werner Haxthausen, The Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard University, Abbeville Press (New York, NY, 1980), p. 122, repr.
  • Das A und O des Bauhauses : Bauhauswerbung: Schriftbilder, Drucksachen, Ausstellungsdesign, exh. cat., Bauhaus-Archiv (Berlin, Germany, 1995), p. 236, cat. no. 398, fig. no. 314
  • Leah Dickerman and Barry Bergdoll, Bauhaus 1919-1933: Workshops for Modernity, exh. cat., ed. David Frankel, The Museum of Modern Art (New York, 2009), cat. no. 227, p. 179, color repr. p. 178

Exhibition History

  • Works from the 20th Century Collection of the Busch-Reisinger, Wildenstein Gallery, New York, New York, 09/23/1980 - 10/24/1980
  • Art of the Weimar Era, Busch-Reisinger Museum, Cambridge, 04/05/1982 - 05/22/1982
  • Bauhaus Utopien, Magyar Nemzeti Galeria, 03/09/1988 - 04/20/1988; Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, 05/07/1988 - 06/26/1988; Kunstverein Köln, Cologne, 07/15/1988 - 09/04/1988
  • Das A und O des Bauhauses, Bauhaus-Archiv, Berlin 30, 08/01/1995 - 12/31/1995
  • Bauhaus 1919-1933: Workshops for Modernity, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 11/08/2009 - 01/25/2010
  • 32Q: 1520 Art in Germany Between the Wars (Interwar and Bauhaus), Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 03/06/2015
  • The Bauhaus and Harvard, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 02/08/2019 - 07/28/2019

Subjects and Contexts

  • The Bauhaus

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu