The Bauhaus, founded as a German school of design in 1919, was closed down by Hitler in 1933: a mere fourteen a years of existence, and yet the Bauhaus represents one of the most powerful and enduring currents in twentieth-century design. The buildings in which we live and work, many of the everyday objects that we use, the layout and typography of the books and magazines we read, all have their origins in the Bauhaus work- shops at Weimar and Dessau seventy years ago. Fitted kitchens, anglepoise lamps, stacking metal chairs, are just a few examples of the lasting Bauhaus bequest. The last Director of the Bauhaus, architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, defined the Bauhaus not as 'an institution - it was an idea . . only an idea spreads so far'. Its establishment was the outcome of a longstanding debate about the relative status of fine and applied art, and a move to reform art education in the light of industrial and technological change. As such it attracted some of the most influential and innovative artists of the day, including the Expressionist painters Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee, the De Stijl artist Theo van Doesburg, and the extraordinarily creative Hungarian László Moholy-Nagy, who counted photography, collage and graphic design among his many talents. The mandatory first-year course introduced by Johannes ltten, with its stress on color and form as a means of releasing individual creativity, forms the basis for art school foundation courses to this day. Copiously illustrated in color and black and white, this sumptuous large-format book provides an in-depth introduction to the various stages in the development of the Bauhaus aesthetic; to the changes of political fortune the school endured during its brief existence; to the many powerful and sometimes embattled personalities involved; and above all to the extraordinary range of artistic creativity which it inspired. From the luminous paintings of Klee and Kandinsky to the sans-serif typography of Joost Schmidt from the vibrant textile designs of Gunta Stölzl to the tubular steel chairs of Marcel Breuer, from anglepoise lamp to skyscraper, this book bears witness to the indelible mark left by the Bauhaus.