Originally, Gertrud Arndt (1903-2000) had wanted to become an architect, but a regular course in architecture was not yet being offered at the Bauhaus. The master of form in the weaving workshop, Georg Muche, recognized her special talent in the field of textiles and entrusted her with creating a carpet to her own design as an introduction to it.

Gertrud Arndt quickly became a specialist; her best-known work was a carpet produced for Walter Gropius’s office. On completing her apprenticeship examination, she entirely turned to photography. Starting in 1929, she took photographic self-portraits in a series she called ‘Mask Portraits,’ dramatizing herself with only a few accessories; the photographs are internationally well-known today.