Oskar Schlemmer was born in Swabia and, after a period studying painting, enrolled at the Stuttgart Academy in 1912. Under Adolf Hölzel, Schlemmer learnt to abandon the style promoted by the Impressionists and instead turned to the Cubists for inspiration. He was fascinated with their ideas of form and composition and the tensions between them. In his painting, sculpture and metalwork, Schlemmer would try to explore new approaches to structure and perspective.

In 1920 Schlemmer went to work as a teacher at the Bauhaus where he remained for nine years. His complex ideas were influential, making him one of the most important teachers working at the school at that time. However, with the rise of the Nazis at the end of the Twenties, Schlemmer’s work was seen as degenerate and he was dismissed from his post. After using Cubism as a springboard for his structural studies.Schlemmer’s ideas on art were complex and challenging even for the progressive Bauhaus movement. His work, nevertheless, was widely exhibited in both Germany and outside the country.