Читать книгу Bauhaus. 1919-1933 - Michael Siebenbrodt - Страница 20

The Preparatory Course

The preparatory course, also called the preliminary course or basic course, was among the most important pedagogic achievements of the Bauhaus, developed by Johannes Itten and continued by László Moholy-Nagy and Josef Albers. As an idea, the preparatory course was not a Bauhaus invention. The tradition of preparatory course teaching in artistic education goes back to the nineteenth century and is closely connected with the process of art school reform at the beginning of the twentieth century. As a trial or introductory semester, the preparatory course at the Bauhaus formed the basis for the introduction of young people of varied educational backgrounds to academic studies in the principles of design, and thus to break with all old educational privileges. The successful completion of the preparatory course was necessary for acceptance into one of the Bauhaus workshops. Those interested in the Bauhaus had the opportunity to test themselves in the preparatory course to see whether they had any aptitude as a designer. At the same time they had the opportunity – without the constraints of a regular course – to explore their leaning toward a certain field of studies or material in the different workshops. During this “self-finding course”, imagination and creativity were “tested” as well as sensitivity, diligence, stamina and team work.