I’ve been fascinated by Breuer’s work since I was in high school, when a friend’s family bought Breuer’s little bachelor house in Lincoln, next to the Gropius house. When I started architecture night-school, I was a carpenter on an addition to the house, experiencing the spaces, and gaining some insight into Breuer’s extraordinary design-mind.

My respect for Breuer grew, again while restoring his Wellfleet house, with its simple volumes and brilliant siting. Part of this recent restoration entailed archiving the art, furniture, books and ephemera, which lead to scores of fascinating research side-trips. The books, with inscriptions (in multiple languages) and all the artworks tell stories of deep relationships and collaborators with a cast of iconic characters.

Though dozens of books are available on Breuer’s work, they only brush lightly over his personal story and in some cases repeat inaccuracies. Breuer’s turbulent family story in Hungary, his early life as a visual artist, his rivalries and tragedies, remain opaque to the public.

As a student, teacher and designer Breuer was a player in many pivotal moments of 20th century culture. A proper biography would fill in an important missing piece in the history of Modernism.

For the last few years, I’ve been working closely on Breuer research with Tas (pronounced Tash) Tobias, a young Hungarian journalist.

This often means daily phone calls and emails between Wellfleet and Budapest.

Almost a year ago he started working on what will become the first real Breuer biography. He is deep in conversation with a major publisher and has another year and a half of searching archives, travel, writing and editing towards a 2028 publication date.

This is critical work and I’m hoping to help raise funds for the US leg of his journey, in which he will be working with archives in Boston, Washington DC and Denver and visiting Breuer buildings around the country.

The goal is to raise $40,000 by the end of November so Tas can stay on schedule for the American phase of his research.

Donations would go directly to Tas and not pass through CCMHT.

You can donate to him via PayPal or Venmo.
Checks made out to Tas Tobias can be sent to c/o Tas, PO Box 593, South Wellfleet MA 02663

Gifts of $400 get a cool sweatshirt designed specifically for this campaign by Hungarian graphic designer Zsófia Lázár-Papp.

Donors of $3,000 and over will also receive an acknowledgment in the book.

For more details, see below……

Thank you!

Peter McMahon

Why a Breuer Bio

Breuer entered the Bauhaus in 1920 as the radical school’s youngest student, determined to be a successful painter. By age 21 he had changed course and gained world-wide attention as the inventor of tubular steel furniture. His ingenious and complex Wassily chair became an instant phenomenon.

Breuer would go on be become one of the great architect-designers of the 20th century and yet to this day, very little is known about his personal story.

“Breuer probably surpasses the entire younger generation,” wrote Ise Gropius when she described the Bauhaus students in her diary in 1925. “He is the shyest and boldest at once.” Breuer may have been circumspect about his own story for several reasons: he didn’t want to dwell on the trauma of survival in a Europe turning toward fascism; he sought to keep attention on his work rather than himself; or it may have been the shyness Ise wrote about. Regardless, there has never been a proper Breuer biography, and I think now is the time for a comprehensive look at his life, and that Tas is best suited to take on this task.

About Tas Tobias

I first met Tas in 2022 when he sought me out for a very well researched article on Breuer. I have also given him access to the extensive primary source materials CCMHT holds.

Tas is fluent in Hungarian, German, and English which has been critical to finding previously unseen sources. He also has a decade of experience translating dense cultural and historical material for general readers.
His blog (Offbeat Budapest and Vienna) is the most visited source for culture and food stories in the two cities, and his article on the crisis of Budapest’s public baths was on the front page of the New York Times Travel Section in December 2025.
He’s a tireless researcher who has already spent almost a year scouring archives in Europe, including in Breuer’s hometown of Pécs, Hungary.
He has the support of preeminent Breuer scholar, Prof. Barry Bergdoll, who served as Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at MoMA from 2007 to 2013 and is a professor of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University.
Tas has already conducted in-person interviews with both of Breuer's children, Breuer’s former colleagues, and many other scholars.

Why Now?

Tas has access to recently discovered monthly letters Breuer wrote (longhand in Hungarian) to his family in Europe, from the 1920s until the end of his life. These reveal his inner thoughts on his personal and professional success and struggles. Tas has been carefully translating, analyzing, and organizing this almost one-thousand-page trove. He also has access to hundreds of newly unearthed youthful artwork and a wealth of un-published photographs of Breuer’s life in Europe and the US.
Breuer’s work has become increasingly relevant in recent years. the Cesca and the Wassily chairs remain among the most iconic and widely sold design objects in the world, and interest continues to grow. The 100th anniversary of the Cesca chair will be in 2028.
The restoration of the original Whitney Museum and its occupation by the Met, Frick and now Sotheby’s (who have re-named it the The Breuer ) has brought one of Breuer’s masterworks back into the spotlight.
The recent movie, The Brutalist, although only passingly inspired by Breuer, and Bad Bunny's video NUEVAYoL which featured Breuer’s Miester Hall at Bronx Community College, speak to the degree to which this visionary architect has entered the zeitgeist.

Support for a Marcel Breuer Biography

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