1888, Stuttgart1943, Baden-Baden

Biography

1888

Oskar Schlemmer is born in Stuttgart, Germany

1906

He begins his studies at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart

1914–1918

During the First World War, Schlemmer serves in the military as a soldier

1920

He marries Helene Tutein (‘Tut’) and is appointed as a master at the Bauhaus in Weimar by Walter Gropius

1922

The world premiere of his groundbreaking stage work Das Triadische Ballett takes place in Stuttgart. In the same year, Wassily Kandinsky is also appointed to the Bauhaus

1923

Schlemmer takes over as head of the Bauhaus Stage Workshop and develops the famous Bauhaus dances

1925–1926

Following the Bauhaus’s relocation, Schlemmer moves to Dessau and continues his teaching there

1929

The Bauhaus Dances go on an international tour, bringing Schlemmer to prominence as a stage artist

1929

Appointed to the Academy of Fine Arts and Applied Arts in Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland)

1932

Appointed professor at the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin. In the same year, he was dismissed by the National Socialists

1933–1937

His works were denounced as ‘degenerate art’, removed from German museums and exhibited in the 1937 exhibition ‘Degenerate Art’

1930s

As a result of being barred from practising his profession, Schlemmer worked for a time in paint and varnish factories. Plans to emigrate to the USA came to nothing

1943

Oskar Schlemmer died on 13 April in Baden-Baden at the age of 54