SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
Willi Baumeister (1889–1955), a German artist born and deceased in Stuttgart, developed a practice encompassing painting, typography and theatre sets. Trained at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart, he travelled to Paris and Amden in the 1910s, after his military service. He took part in his first exhibitions, including the first German Autumn Salon, held at the Der Sturm gallery in Berlin; after the war, he returned to Stuttgart and worked on typographic compositions and theatre sets.
In 1922, he published his first text in French in the journal L’Esprit Nouveau. He subsequently joined several artists’ groups, including Cercle et Carré, followed by Abstraction-Création. In 1937, his works were shown in Munich in the exhibition known as “Degenerate Art”. His book Das Unbekannte in der Kunst (L’Inconnu dans l’art) was published in 1947, also bearing witness to his work as an author.
Works listed in public collections include Composition (1923), at the Musée national d’art moderne in Paris; Composition (1925), at the Museum of Modern Art in New York; and Fantôme noir (1952), at the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid. The Art Institute of Chicago also lists Nude (c. 1925), Chess Player (Schachspieler) (1926), Composition (1948) and Remembrance of Spain, with no date indicated. Fliegende Formen, dated 1937/1938, is described in a sale catalogue as a pencil drawing, intended to be included under number 662/a in a supplement to the catalogue of drawings, gouaches and collages. Since 2005, the artist’s archives have been held at the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart.
This profile brings together identity references for Willi Baumeister and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
17 references are documented at Dobiaschofsky, Kornfeld, Schuler, Germann, Lempertz. Each record links to its source; the amounts are not a general valuation of the artist’s work.
Bleistift- und Kohlezeichnung, gewischt, auf leichtem Karton
Auction date : 2024-11-30
Published result : 7560 EUR
Including buyer’s premium
Estimate : 8000
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Pastel
Aus Gilgamesch
pastel
Auction date : 2023-12-02
Published result : 6930 EUR
Including buyer’s premium
Estimate : 6000
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Charcoal on paper
Figuren in Bewegung
Kohle auf Papier
Catalogue period : 2020-06-26
Published result : 2000 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 2000–4000
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Pencil
Linien hell und dunkel mit Farben
Bleistift
Catalogue period : 2020-06-26
Published result : 5000 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 2000–4000
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Bleistift auf festem chamoisfarbenen Zeichenpapier
Auction date : 2020-06-20
Published result : 21250 EUR
Including buyer’s premium
Estimate : 14000
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Pastel
Linienfiguren in Bewegung mit Horizont
pastel
Catalogue period : 2020-03-27
Published result : 2000 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 2000–4000
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Pencil
Linien hell und dunkel mit Farben
Bleistift
Catalogue period : 2020-03-27
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
Estimate : CHF 3000–5000
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Pencil
Linien hell und dunkel mit Farben
Bleistift
Catalogue period : 2019-12-13
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
Estimate : CHF 5000–8000
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Öl mit Kunstharz auf Karton
Auction date : 2019-11-29
Published result : 47120 EUR
Including buyer’s premium
Estimate : 30000
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Oil on hardboard
Figuration mit Laterne
Öl auf Hartfaserplatte
Auction date : 2019-11-29
Published result : 34720 EUR
Including buyer’s premium
Estimate : 30000
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Pastel
Dialog
pastel
Auction date : 2019-11-29
Published result : 7440 EUR
Including buyer’s premium
Estimate : 5000
View the lot at the auction house ↗Pencil drawing, the entire sheet lightly smudged, highlighting the forms
Fliegende Formen
Bleistiftzeichnung, das ganze Blatt leicht gewischt, die Formen werden hervorgehoben
Catalogue period : 2018-06-14
Published result : 3000 CHF
Hammer price, excluding fees
Estimate : CHF 4000
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Gouache
Bühnenentwurf zu "Monte Cassino". Schleiervorhang II
gouache
Auction date : 2018-06-01
Published result : 5208 EUR
Including buyer’s premium
Estimate : 3000
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Gouache
Bühnenentwurf zu "Monte Cassino", I. Akt
gouache
Auction date : 2018-06-01
Published result : 3472 EUR
Including buyer’s premium
Estimate : 3000
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Gouache
Bühnenentwurf zu "Monte Cassino", II. Akt
gouache
Auction date : 2018-06-01
Published result : 3472 EUR
Including buyer’s premium
Estimate : 3000
View the lot at the auction house ↗Gouache
Dietmar J. Ponert: "Willi Baumeister/Werkverzeichnis...".
gouache
Date to be documented
Published result : 240 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 150
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Oil on cardboard
Im Bad, 1911
Öl auf Karton.
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
View the lot at the auction house ↗SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
Documentation updated : 2026-10-19
