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Lot Essay
In 1919 Ludwig Hirschfeld-Mack enrolled in the Bauhaus in Weimar, where he studied under Johannes Itten, Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky, and apprenticed to Lyonel Feininger in the print workshop. In 1963 he published The Bauhaus: An Introductory Survey, with an introduction by Walter Gropius.
At the Bauhaus, Hirschfeld-Mack developed the idea and process for his 'Reflected Light Compositions,' from which this print derives. As he describes, 'Templates in various colors were superimposed and moved back and forth in front of a spotlight, projected in the back of a transparent screen, thus producing a colored and kinetic abstraction on the front of the screen which faced the audience.' These performances of colored lights, events to which music was later added, began, he revealed, 'as a chance discovery during simple shadow-play entertainment.'
After leaving the Bauhaus in 1925, Hirschfeld-Mack spent the rest of his career teaching in Germany, England and, from 1940, in Ferny Creek, Australia.
At the Bauhaus, Hirschfeld-Mack developed the idea and process for his 'Reflected Light Compositions,' from which this print derives. As he describes, 'Templates in various colors were superimposed and moved back and forth in front of a spotlight, projected in the back of a transparent screen, thus producing a colored and kinetic abstraction on the front of the screen which faced the audience.' These performances of colored lights, events to which music was later added, began, he revealed, 'as a chance discovery during simple shadow-play entertainment.'
After leaving the Bauhaus in 1925, Hirschfeld-Mack spent the rest of his career teaching in Germany, England and, from 1940, in Ferny Creek, Australia.