WISSENDES GESTALTEN

Overview

The topicality of Hanns Hoffmann-Lederer’s (1899–1970) design doctrine, with its claim to a comprehensive aesthetic education, lies in the fact that it represents an important counterbalance to today’s euphoria for digitalization. For a long time the young Bauhaus Master and design pedagogue opposed the publication of his concept for a fundamental artistic education, one which united and expanded the content of many different trends within the Bauhaus teachings. For him the risk that his exercises could be misunderstood as prescriptive was too great. Yet greater still was the drive of his enthusiastic students, who compiled exemplar images, edited teaching notes, and in 1958 conceived the first draft for a potential publication. Here Justus Theinert and Rainer K. Wick trace the moving life and the distinct pedagogical attributes of this fascinating personality.