Willi Baumeister
Bühnenentwurf zu "Monte Cassino". Schleiervorhang II
1949
Gouache and pencil on light card 28 x 40.2 cm Unsigned. Inscribed '9 m br x 3.80' in pencil in lower margin and inscribed 'verteilt über die ganze Bühne' with directional arrows and information and isolated notes on colour. - Slightly browned and with drawing pin holes in the margins, traces of studio.
In 1949, Willi Baumeister designed these two stage sets for the play "Monte Cassino" as well as the stage curtain. The tragedy, written by the playwright Egon Vietta, which celebrated its world premiere on the municipal stage in Essen, marked the beginning of many years of collaboration between the Stuttgart artist and the theatre director Gustav Rudolf Sellner. As early as the 1920s, Baumeister gained his first experience as a stage designer, which he continued to expand after the war. In 1947, he designed numerous costumes and equipment for Manuel de Falla's famous ballet "Der Liebeszauber", which was performed at the Staatstheater Stuttgart. For Baumeister himself, theatre design became an important part of his artistic oeuvre and continued aspects of his painting in a new, exciting context.
Certificate
With an expertise from Felicitas Baumeister dated 22 February 2018 (archive no. ab-th-1506). We would like to thank Felicitas Baumeister and Hadwig Goez, Archiv Baumeister, for kind information.
Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist; in private possession since, North Rhine-Westphalia
Exhibitions
Stuttgart 2007 (Kunstmuseum Stuttgart), Im Rampenlicht - Baumeister als Bühnenbildner, no cat. no. with colour illus. p. 144