Bauhaus in Bristol

Sample of fabric for tubular furniture, Otti Berger. (Harvard Art Museums, BR52.86)

Last year we had the pleasure of visiting the Ken Stradling Collection in Bristol to see their exhibition Bauhaus in Bristol.

If you missed your chance of a visit then you can catch up on what went on on their blog pages here.

In the 1930s Bristol furniture manufacturer Crofton Gane was a passionate promoter of Modernist design. He built up a wide range of contacts and became a close friend of Bauhaus furniture designer and architect Marcel Breuer.

Gane commissioned a variety of work from Breuer including the Gane Pavilion for the Royal Agricultural Show in Bristol in 1936, regarded by Breuer as one of his two most seminal buildings alongside the UNESCO headquarters in Paris.

In Autumn 2019, the Stradling Collection commemorated this partnership and joined in the worldwide celebrations marking the centenary of the Bauhaus – history’s most famous art school.

The Bauhaus In Bristol exhibition explored how the ideas of the Bauhaus came to Bristol in 1935 via one of its most celebrated figures, Marcel Breuer and his association with Bristol furniture retailer Crofton Gane.

The Gane Pavilion, Royal Agricultural Show, 1936.

Once we get the chance, we’ll definitely be back to the Stradling Collection for another visit.

Stradling Gallery

Design Study Centre

48 Park Row, Bristol BS1 5LH, UK