The Bauhaus, which literally translates to “building house,” was about much more than buildings, as we learn from an informative yet overstuffed traveling exhibition, “The Whole World a Bauhaus,” at the Elmhurst Art Museum

Amid the show’s 400-plus objects,which include photographs, works on paper, architectural models, documents, films and audio recordings, are classic chairs by Mies and Marcel Breuer; geometric wall tapestries and carpets by such Bauhaus masters as the textile artist Anni Albers, wife of painter Josef Albers; and curiosities like a yellow, blue and red cradle and flyers for Bauhaus designs.

Organized by the German international cultural exchange organization IFA and curated by Berlin-based art historian Boris Friedewald, the exhibition consists of eight thematically organized sections that explore everything from the Bauhaus’ radical educational philosophy to its encounters with the outside world.

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