Al-Aqsa II

Herbert Bayer

"Al-Aqsa II" was published by the Bauhaus Archiv in an edition of 150, plus 3 Artist's Proofs and printed by printer Evelyn Lincoln in San Francisco, California at Editions Press. This impression is one of of the 3 Presentation Proofs, these designated for collaborators, in this case a partner at Editions Press.

Done in 1979, the year Bayer had his heart attack and had moved from Colorado to Santa Barbara, California, this image was created in San Francisco. "Al-Aqsa II" was published by the Bauhaus Archiv and was made available for sale to their membership and not offered to the general public.

This image is based on Bayer's artistic interpretation of "Al Aqsa Mosque", the "Farthest Mosque", the third holiest site in Sunni Islam and is located in the Old City of Jerusalem. The entire site on which the silver-domed mosque sits, along with the Dome of the Rock, seventeen gates, and four minarets, was itself historically known as the Al-Aqsa Mosque.