Over the course of a long and storied career, Willi Baumeister (1889-1955) created stage designs and costumes for many plays. Now, for the first time, his writings on the theatre have been compiled and published in this first volume from Archiv Baumeister im Kunstmuseum Stuttgart. Filled with insightful essays and vibrant illustrations, this book will give readers a vivid picture of his work for the theatre.

The artistic work of Willi Baumeister (1889-1955), one of the pioneers of abstract painting, is perfectly documented with the exception of his sketch books. He left 47 of them with 490 sketches, drawn between 1913 and 1955. During the last years the interest in sketchbooks became more and more important, thus opening a new form in the general view on an artist and his creative kind of working. For many of his worldwide renowned works we find here first traces and the steps to a final masterwork. This catalog presents all of his sketches, compared and analyzed in a chronological and content context.