Baumeister as Instructor
In his nearly 40-year artistic career, Willi Baumeister was called twice to teach at an art academy. Even so, the content and accompanying circumstances of both teaching assignments could not have been more different.
Frankfurt am Main 1928 to 1933
The first professorship that took him to Frankfurt am Main between 1928 and 1933 resulted from his work as a typographer in the mid 1920s and as a co-inventor of new styles in commercial art in Germany.
Stuttgart 1946 to 1955
The second appointment occurred in his hometown Stuttgart between 1946 and 1955 and was based on his artistic contribution to the development of modern painting in Europe, his irreproachable conduct during the Nazi period, and the high renown he enjoyed after 1945.
The end of the Frankfurt period was marked by the brusque dismissal from the teaching position, as his thinking and his art did not fit into the cultural framework of the National Socialists. His Stuttgart professorship ended when he retired as emeritus, which, however, was soon followed by Baumeister's death in August 1955.
Students on Willi Baumeister
Many former students from the Frankfurt and the Stuttgart periods later expressed their thoughts about their instructor.