Werner Graeff (1901-1978) - ohne Titel

Werner Graeff (1901–1978), without a title, 1973.

Acrylic paint on plywood board mounted on leather-imitation passepartout, frame dimensions 42 x 37 cm, painting dimensions 24 x 19 cm. Signed and dated.

Condition: Good, but age-appropriate. The images are part of the condition description.

Provenance: Private collection, Essen; private collection, Berlin.

Biography
Werner Graeff (1901–1978) was a German artist, designer, photographer and filmmaker and counts among the important representatives of classical modernism. As a versatile designer he shaped the avant-garde of the 1920s and was closely connected with the Bauhaus milieu. His works move between constructive art, experimental photography and functional industrial design.

Graeff studied, among others, at the Bauhaus Dessau, where he came into contact with figures such as László Moholy-Nagy and Walter Gropius. He worked in typography, photomontage and product design and published in 1929 the influential work “Es kommt der neue Fotograf!”, which is regarded as a programmatic text of Neue Fotografie.

His design stance was characterized by clarity, functionality and technical precision – central principles of the New Building and modernism. In addition to his artistic work, Graeff was also active as an author and theorist and contributed significantly to the dissemination of modern design and photography concepts.

Today Werner Graeff is regarded as a major impetus for modern graphic design, experimental photography and functional industrial design. His works stand as exemplars of the innovative power of the Bauhaus movement and the European avant-garde of the 20th century.