Color Circle from Gertrud Grunow’s Teaching (Farbkreis aus dem Unterricht von Gertrud Grunow)

In the early 1920s, the Bauhaus school addressed widespread worries about mental and physical health, specifically “neurasthenia,” a disorder associated with stress and emotional strain. Teachers like Gertrud Grunow developed art and sensory exercises to assist their students attain balance. Her “Theory of Harmony” (1920–1923) used sound, color, and movement to connect physical and mental states. Students practiced with their eyes closed, focusing on how tones and hues interacted internally, with the goal of correcting imbalances that hampered creativity.

Alfred Arndt, a Bauhaus student, created this color circle around 1921 as part of Grunow’s teachings. The color circle shows twelve different colors that match up with musical notes. Grunow used simple shapes like circles, triangles, and squares to show how everything connects. She used basic colors (like red and blue) for simple musical notes, and mixed colors for more complex harmonies. She believed that when people experienced these colors and sounds together in an organized way, it could help them feel more balanced.

This work shows how the Bauhaus tried new ways to mix art, science, and health together. While students didn’t have to take Grunow’s classes, many did, and they learned both practical design skills and spiritual ideas there. Later on, some people said her methods weren’t scientific enough, but they showed how the Bauhaus wanted to teach the whole person, not just art skills. We don’t have many pictures showing how Grunow taught, which makes Arndt’s color circle really special. The Bauhaus was trying to solve modern problems by connecting different fields, and they were using art for wellbeing long before people started doing professional art therapy.

More information: https://bauhauskooperation.de/wissen/das-bauhaus/lehre/unterricht/unterricht-gertrud-grunow