RESEARCH

The Pioneer that Brought Considered Pattern into the Home

Gunta Stölzl was the only female master at the Bauhaus School of design, and transformed the craft of weaving at the school from creating traditional pictorial visuals, into producing industrial interior pieces with function and pattern – moving it away from the previous 'women's work' into mainstream design.

She mentored students in every aspect of the craft: from dying fabrics and working with the new synthetic fibres, as well as introducing fundamental lessons on mathematics and geometry in order to design and work with the loom.

During years preceding the Second World War, pressure from the Nazis built up to dismiss Stölzl from her position, and she was forced to leave. However, her influence on modern textile design and the craft of weaving still remains today, and her simple geometric designs are as beautiful as ever.
Gunta Stölzl, Jacquard Wall Hanging Damast, 1930 Victoria & Albert Museum London
Gunta Stölzl, Design for a Carpet, Victoria & Albert Museum
Gunta Stölzl, Jacquard Wall Hanging, "5 Chöre" (5 Choirs, 1928 Cotton, wool, rayon and silk, Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte der Hansestadt, Lübeck