Willi Baumeister

Born in Stuttgart in 1889 he also studied there at the Academy. He was interested in Post Impressionists and shared many of the ideas of the Bauhaus. In his early work he used simplified Cubist forms. After the war he produced his first series of works using sand and putty mixed into paint. His work attracted the attention of Le Corbusier among others. In 1933 he was dismissed from his post at the Frankfurt School of Art and denounced by the Nazi party as a degenerate artist. His works were removed from all galleries and he was forced to find work in a paint factory, but he remained painting in secret. He was influenced by his own imagination and inspired by nature. He viewed the artist's path as a voyage of discovery into the unknown. After the war he was appointed professor of painting at Stuttgart Academy and recognised as a leader of the Modern Movement.