Werner Graeff, Bauhaus Painter, 1975, Painted on Print, Folkwang

Hand painted figures like the NIBLI, HALOC and others on giant photoprint. Canvas, put to a massive wooden board.
Some areas show scratches and additional painting, see photos.

Werner Graeff,
(24.08.1901, Wuppertal, Germany – 29.08.1978, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA)

His first pictures were created in impressionistic style, circa 1919 he turned to cubist forms. This style also influenced his early sculptures.

From 1921 he was a student at the Bauhaus University in Weimar. In the same year he became the youngest member of the group De Stijl 1917-1931 and became from 1922 employee of the magazine of the same name. He took a Stijl course with Theo van Doesburg. Also in 1922 he participated in the First International Congress of Progressive Artists from 29 to 31 May in Düsseldorf.

In 1924 Graeff, together with Hans Richter and Piet Mondrian, published the magazine for Elemental Design, abbreviated: G. His first book about Willi Baumeister appeared in 1927.

In the winter semester of 1924-1925 Graeff began studying at the Technical University in Berlin-Charlottenburg, which he discontinued for economic reasons. In the following years he turned more to writing, his artistic ambitions receded. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe made him head of propaganda for the exhibition Die Wohnung in der Weißenhofsiedlung in Stuttgart in 1928. On behalf of the Deutscher Werkbund, he published the volumes Bau und Wohnungen und Innenräume on the exhibition.

In 1931-1932 Graeff taught photography at the Reimann School in Berlin. In 1934 he emigrated via Spain to Switzerland. During the Second World War and the immediate post-war years Graeff lived in Switzerland as a teacher and writer. From 1946 he developed one of the first mini cameras in the world.

From 1950 he turned again to painting. From 1951 to 1958 he was a teacher at the Folkwangschule in Essen. Graeff died on August 29, 1978 in Blacksburg, Virginia, USA. The artist’s estate, administered by his second wife Ursula Graeff-Hirsch, was bequeathed to the Wiesbaden Museum in 2009.