Willi Baumeister. Der Zeichner Figur und Abstraktion in der Kunst auf Papier

Willi Baumeister (1889-1955) was one of the protagonists of abstraction in post-war European art. On the basis of 50 selected drawings, this volume traces his artistic development from the early 1920s. Until his late work, his drawings have their starting point in the human figure, which gradually becomes an archaic pictorial sign. In order to demonstrate the diverse stages of abstraction, works by other artists are juxtaposed for comparison, including Juan Gris, Oskar Schlemmer, El Lissitzky, and Fernand Léger, thus impressively expanding access to Baumeister's art. Individual works by artists of subsequent generations such as Philip Guston and A. R. Penck attest to Baumeister's pioneering figurative gift for formulation in art on paper.