Birthday: 1905 in Altenbögge - Dead: 1976, in Munich
Born 1905 in Altenbögge, he is considered one of the most important artists of the post-war period.
He worked as miner and electrician, and made some self-taught works before becoming a student at the Dessau Bauhaus, ca. 1924. There he studied between 1927 and 1930 under Oskar Schlemmer, Kandinsky and Klee. This last one had an enormous influence on his work.
During the years he made several evolutions on his style; on his works from 1929 - 1930 directly inspirited by the primitives, and from them, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. During the 30´s decade he investigated with games of lights on his canvas, and some ideas from the futurist group.
His abstract pictures of the next time reveal a great debt to artists like Arp and Naum Gabo. This abstract motives became in its high point when he left his captivity in 1949, as the war ended.
With R.Geiger and T.Werner he founded the artistic group ZEN 49, which went on with the tradition of the "Blaue Reiter" group.
His style develops into much more meditative forms in the post war. In the 50´s he left the severe conceptual style, by receiving the influence of the expressionism and his spontaneity, as well as he developed new techniques of painting.
In the 60´s he went back to the colour modulations, most of them in one tone, and played with its possibilities on the canvas, like Mark Rothko or Georg Meistermann.
