Why did Johannes Itten leave the Bauhaus?

Internal differences with Walter Gropius, in part over Mazdaznan, the worldview he had spread within the school — shaved heads, a prescribed diet, breathing exercises — that a director wanting the workshops turned toward industry could not accommodate. He left in March 1923.

What happened at the Bauhaus after Itten left?

László Moholy-Nagy was called the same month, taking over the preliminary course, the metal workshop, and even Itten's own villa and flat.

Can I visit where Johannes Itten taught?

Yes, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, in the van de Velde buildings where he taught the preliminary course and served as form master over nearly every workshop.

Johannes Itten

1888–1967

Swiss

painterart teacherBauhaus master

Biography

Every student who entered the Bauhaus met Johannes Itten first, because the course they had to pass was his invention — and when he walked out in March 1923 the school changed character within a year.

A schoolteacher who studied mathematics, 1888–1912

Itten was born in 1888 in Süderenlinden in Switzerland and came to art by an unusually long road: a year teaching in a primary school in 1908–09, then the École des Beaux-Arts in Geneva, then a degree in science and mathematics at the University of Bern by 1912, and only after that two years at the Stuttgart academy, where he joined Adolf Hölzel's master class. It matters for what he did later — the man who built the Bauhaus's teaching had trained as a teacher and thought about how learning works before he thought about how art looks.

The course he invented, 1919–1923

Gropius called him to Weimar in October 1919 as one of the first masters, and Itten built the thing the Bauhaus is still copied for: an introductory semester every student had to pass before choosing a workshop, developed by him and led by him until 1922/23. He was also form master over every workshop except ceramics, bookbinding and printing, and deputy director until 1923 — for three years, the school's teaching was largely his.

Mazdaznan in the school

Itten did a great deal, in the school, to spread Mazdaznan, a worldview that cut across religions and philosophies — his biography at the Bauhaus institutions' portal says so plainly. Shaved heads, a prescribed diet and breathing exercises in a state art school were not a private eccentricity; they were part of the teaching, and they are one reason a director who wanted the workshops turned towards industry could not keep him.

The break, and what came after, 1923–1967

He left the Bauhaus in March 1923 after internal differences with Gropius, and the school moved on within weeks: Moholy-Nagy was called in the same month and took over the preliminary course and the metal workshop. Itten opened his own school in Berlin in 1926, directed textile training in Krefeld from 1932 to 1938, and from 1938 led the Kunstgewerbeschule in Zurich. He died there in 1967.

The villa he handed on, 1923

He lived in the villa at what was then Wilhelms-Allee 2, today Leibnizallee 2, and when he left, Moholy-Nagy took over not only his post but his flat as well. It is a small detail that captures the school's turn in 1923 plainly: one man's rooms, teaching and job passed to his opposite in the same season.

Questions visitors ask

What did Johannes Itten create at the Bauhaus?: The preliminary course (Vorkurs), an introductory semester every student had to pass before choosing a workshop — the thing the Bauhaus is still copied for today.
Why did Johannes Itten leave the Bauhaus?: Internal differences with Walter Gropius, in part over Mazdaznan, the worldview he had spread within the school — shaved heads, a prescribed diet, breathing exercises — that a director wanting the workshops turned toward industry could not accommodate. He left in March 1923.
What happened at the Bauhaus after Itten left?: László Moholy-Nagy was called the same month, taking over the preliminary course, the metal workshop, and even Itten's own villa and flat.
Can I visit where Johannes Itten taught?: Yes, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, in the van de Velde buildings where he taught the preliminary course and served as form master over nearly every workshop.

Notable Works & Achievements

the Bauhaus preliminary course (Vorkurs)

Connected Places in Weimar

Bauhaus University Main BuildingSchool

Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 8, 99423 Weimar

He taught the preliminary course in van de Velde's buildings, and was form master over almost every workshop in them.

TempelherrenhausRuin

Park an der Ilm, 99423 Weimar

His painting studio was in this building, in the middle of the ducal park.

Historical Context

Bauhaus in Weimar (1919–1925)1919–1925

One of the first masters, from October 1919, and the author of the course every student began with.

The Bauhaus was founded in Weimar in 1919 and voted out by 1925 — time enough to change what a design school is, and not enough for the town that made it to keep it.