Concept of a Visualist: Herbert Bayer’s World Geo-Graphic Atlas

On view in the Resnick Center for Herbert Bayer Studies, this exhibition examines Herbert Bayer’s 1953 World Geo-Graphic Atlas, a landmark work of visual education and modernist design. Marking the seventieth anniversary of the atlas’s publication, this is the first exhibition devoted to this groundbreaking and influential work that has come to occupy a key place within graphic design history. In addition to exploring Bayer’s contributions to map design and scientific illustration, Concept of a Visualist provides new insights into Herbert Bayer’s larger body of artwork and highlights the atlas’s continued relevance for audiences today.

Charting Space: Herbert Bayer’s World Geo-Graphic Atlas at 70

Charting Space: Herbert Bayer’s World Geo-Graphic Atlas at 70 is on view in the Resnick Gallery located in the Doerr-Hosier Center.  Intended for visitors of all ages, but particularly for K-12 youths, the installation uses Bayer’s atlas as a springboard to explore current issues related to our world including, travel, natural resources, population, and conservation. Making use of interactive elements and multimedia experiences, the layout unfolds in three sections focusing on the themes that Bayer used to visualize the world for readers: the observable universe; the planet Earth; and individual states and countries.

Richard Carter’s Observable Universe

Paepcke Gallery, Paepcke Memorial Building

Richard Carter served as studio assistant to Bauhaus artist and designer Herbert Bayer in Aspen from 1972 to 1978. During that time, Bayer gave Carter a signed copy of his groundbreaking 1953 World Geo-Graphic Atlas. While the atlas was not a direct influence on Carter, he developed scientific interests similar to those that Bayer explored, using his artist’s eye to find new ways of seeing the world around us.  Spanning 2002 to 2021, these mixed media pieces mark a break from Carter’s signature geometric and constructivist paintings and instead reflect his intense study of Earth sciences and astronomical, natural, and geological phenomena. Opening on October 2, 2023 and on view through April 12, 2024.

Herbert Bayer: An Introduction

A landmark exhibition celebrating Herbert Bayer’s artwork and legacy.

June 2022 – April 2023

The inaugural exhibition, Herbert Bayer: An Introduction, curated by Bayer expert Bernard Jazzar, is the first major US exhibition since 1973 to present so full a range of the artist’s work from the late 1910s to the mid-1980s. The survey exhibition provides a contemporary reexamination of Bayer’s career, focusing on his role as a fine artist. With over 150 pieces arranged across 13 galleries, Bayer’s artworks are presented chronologically, from his teenage sketches to paintings from his final decade in Montecito, California. The exhibition includes dozens of rarely-exhibited drawings, gouaches, and watercolors as well as tapestry, sculpture, publications, works on paper, ephemera, and historical photographs.

A Total Work of Art: Bauhaus-Bayer-Aspen

Resnick Gallery, Doerr-Hosier Building

June 2022 – April 2023

Created in 2019 in conjunction with the Aspen Institute’s centennial celebration of the Bauhaus, A Total Work of Art: Bauhaus-Bayer-Aspen presents an overview of the evolution of the Bauhaus, the influential school and movement where Bayer studied and taught, and which operated in Germany between 1919-1933. The exhibition features reproductions of archival materials and concludes with a focused survey of Bayer’s innovative exhibition designs.