Abstract Figure

Established in 1919, the Bauhaus was Germany’s state-sponsored school of art, architecture, and design. Attempting to dissolve the distinction between “fine” and “applied” arts, the school aimed to effect social change after the destruction and devastation of World War I. Oskar Schlemmer was among the first teachers at the Bauhaus, and in his time there he taught classes in life drawing and mural painting and directed the theater and sculpture workshops. Abstract Figure represents the streamlined, modular body of the postwar, regenerated New Man, which was called for by many in German society and celebrated by the artist in the dance performances he choreographed during his time at the Bauhaus.