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This birthday card contains harmful imagery including the caricature of Native American people and cultures as well as cultural appropriation and plagiarism in depicting Walter and Ise Gropius, their daughter Ati, Alfred and Gertrud Arndt and their daughter Alexandra as Native Americans.
Historic New England acknowledges historical records / objects may contain harmful imagery and language reflecting attitudes and biases of their creator and time in which they were made. Historic New England does not alter or edit objects / or historical texts.
A collage with six figures with photographic print faces on stylized Native American figures made of intricately cut paper.
collages (visual works)
photographic prints
paper (fiber product)
ink
painting (image-making)
Collage
Collage
This birthday card was made by German architect Alfred Arndt and his partner Gertrud Arndt, a photographer and designer; both of whom were associated with Bauhaus in Germany. The Arndts' gift was part of a series of 122 cards, letters, photographs, and artwork gathered by former Bauhaus students and educators in honor of Walter Gropius' 70th birthday in 1953. Piecing together brightly colored papers, cut out photos of faces, stamps, and pencil drawing, this collage card is representative of mid-20th century art and color schemes.
At the top center, Walter's figure features an inscription: "BAUHAUS / 1953 / HÄUPTLING." From German, häuptling, can be translated as "chief" or "chieftain," usually in direct reference to a Native American leader. The Arndts trained at Bauhaus in the 1920s under Gropius during his tenure as director. In 1930, two years after Gropius left the school, Alfred was appointed Master of the Building and Interior Design at Bauhaus art school. The Arndts likely saw Walter as a mentor as well as friend, hence their depiction of Walter as "chief." The harmful portrayal of Walter as an Indigenous leader is line with mid-20th century resurgence of racialized caricatures of Indigenous figures in popular culture, especially after the success of the radio turned television show The Lone Ranger (1933-1957) and Disney's Peter Pan (1953). These depictions of Indigenous peoples as relics of the past helped the United States Government and other settler colonial enterprises pursue the Indian Relocation Program which intended to remove Native Americans from reservations and into cities with the promises of plentiful jobs and educational opportunities. Ultimately, the program had devastating effects on Indigenous communities and led to some losing their tribal recognition for the Federal Government.
The card is not currently on display at the Gropius house in Lincoln, Massachusetts. It is housed at the Center for Preservation and Collection in Haverhill, Mass along with the other cards given to Walter for his 70th birthday and the storage box they were presented in.
ARNDTS (handwritten inscription in lower right corner)
Arndt, Alfred, 1896-1976 (Artist)
Arndt, Gertrud, 1903-2000 (Artist)
11 11/16 x 16 1/2 (HxW) (inches)
Bequest of Ise Gropius
1984.54.1
Historic New England is committed to implementing reparative language description for existing collections and creating respectful and inclusive language description for new collections. If you encounter language in Historic England's Collections Access Portal that is harmful or offensive, or you find materials that would benefit from a content warning, please contact [email protected].
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