More than a century after a small German art school turned the design world upside down, Dallas gets a front-row seat to where it all began. The Dallas Museum of Art is now showing “The First Bauhaus Portfolio,” a landmark exhibition on view through August 15, 2027, on Level 2 of the museum.
The show gathers a selection of prints from the very first portfolio the Bauhaus ever published, released in 1922 — works that have belonged to the DMA’s own collection for more than two decades. When the school opened its doors in 1919, its printmaking workshop was the first department running at full steam, led by artist Lyonel Feininger, and this portfolio was its bold calling card to the world.
Visitors can take in woodcuts and lithographs by some of the biggest names in modern art, including Feininger, Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee, alongside standout pieces like Gerhard Marcks’s playful woodcut “The Cats (Die Katzen)” (1921) and Oskar Schlemmer’s “Figural Plan K 1.” Together they capture the school’s electric early years, when expressionism, geometry and a utopian vision of art for everyday life all collided.
Best of all, the exhibition is included with the DMA’s free general admission, so everyone can experience a genuine piece of art history in the heart of the Dallas Arts District. The museum awaits at 1717 North Harwood Street — a perfect excuse for a joyful day of art.
Photo: Dallas Museum of Art
