Werner Graeff (also Gräff), 24 August 24, 1901,

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; "''Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and to ...

- 29 August 29, 1978,

Blacksburg, Virginia Blacksburg is an incorporated town in Montgomery County, Virginia, United States, with a population of 44,826 at the 2020 census. Blacksburg, as well as the surrounding county, is dominated economically and demographically by the presence of V ...

) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

sculptor, painter, graphic artist, photographer, film maker and inventor. In 1921 he started studying at the

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 200 ...

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

. Here he soon became under the influence of

Theo van Doesburg Theo van Doesburg (, 30 August 1883 – 7 March 1931) was a Dutch artist, who practiced painting, writing, poetry and architecture. He is best known as the founder and leader of De Stijl. He was married to artist, pianist and choreographer Nelly ...

, and participated in a meeting in Weimar in May 1922 where van Doesberg,

El Lissitzky Lazar Markovich Lissitzky (russian: link=no, Ла́зарь Ма́ркович Лиси́цкий, ; – 30 December 1941), better known as El Lissitzky (russian: link=no, Эль Лиси́цкий; yi, על ליסיצקי), was a Russian artist ...

and Hans Richter planned the intervention of the International Constructivist Faction at the

International Congress of Progressive Artists International Congress of Progressive Artists was organised by Young Rhineland (Junge Rheinland), with help from the November Group, the Darmstadt Secession and the Dresden Secession in Düsseldorf, 29-31 May 1922. The aim of creating an internat ...

held in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

, 29–31 May 1922.

''G''

In 1923 he worked with Richter and Lissitzky on the production of '' G: Material zur elementaren Gestaltung'' (Journal for Elementary Construction). 1n 1928 he co-wrote the film ''

Ghosts Before Breakfast ''Ghosts Before Breakfast'' (german: Vormittagsspuk) is a 1928 German dadaist animated short film directed by Hans Richter. It utilizes stop motion for some of its effects and live action for others. The film does not present a coherent narrat ...

'' with Hans Richter.

Gallery

There are two of Graeff's sculptures on display at the Skulpturenmuseum Glaskasten in

Marl, North Rhine-Westphalia Marl () is a town and a municipality in the Recklinghausen (district), district of Recklinghausen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated near the Wesel-Datteln Canal, approx. 10 km north-west of Recklinghausen. It has about 90, ...

. Marl Graeff.JPG, Marlsku (1970-2) Marl Graeff 02.JPG, Polsku (1972) Marl Graeff 03.JPG, Polsku (detail)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graeff, Werner 1901 births 1978 deaths