Willi Baumeister

After an apprenticeship as a decorative painter and studying in his hometown Stuttgart, Willi Baumeister studied in Paris, Amsterdam, and London. After World War I, he was able to exhibit his works in many European capitals and New York. He began teaching at the Frankfurt School of Applied Arts industrial graphic design, typography, and fabric printing in 1927. In 1933, he lost his professorship, and some of his works were shown at the exhibition of “Degenerate Art”. He could still exhibit abroad until 1941 but subsequently was subject to an occupational ban. After World War II, Baumeister took up teaching again and participated in numerous national and international exhibitions. He is considered one of the most important German expressionists and cubists. With his essay “The Unknown in Art” he also belonged to the great art theorists. In 1989 he was honored on the occasion of his 100th birthday with a stamp issued by the German Federal Post. Baumeister was married to the painter Margarete Oehm (1898-1978).

Some of Baumeister’s oil paintings with sporting themes were also included in the exhibition “Degenerate Art”. Handstand (1925, oil on canvas, 117 × 79 cm) was one of those that disappeared or were destroyed after the exhibition. The first version of the Läuferin (Female Runner) was created in 1925 and now belongs to a private collection. A slightly modified version was created in the same year and is now in the State Gallery Stuttgart. The painting Hochsprung (High Jump) from 1928 has also disappeared, but several sketches, drawings, and lithographs of these paintings still exist.