Skip to Content
Closed today, next open Thursday. Closed today, next open Thursday.

Nude

A work made of gelatin silver print.

Image actions

  • A work made of gelatin silver print.

Date:

c. 1925

Artist:

Willi Baumeister
German, 1889–1955

About this artwork

Trained as an architectural painter, Willi Baumeister expanded his practice to include printmaking, typography, and set design. He came to international prominence in the 1920s with work that embraced abstract form and ideographic signs, but when the Nazis gained power in 1933, his art was deemed “degenerate” and he was dismissed from his teaching post in Frankfurt. Although Baumeister’s photographs mostly served as an experimental adjunct to his work in other media, this image is more than a mere study: through the use of unusual cropping and complex negative shapes, a female nude verges into abstract design.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Photography and Media

Artist

Willi Baumeister

Title

Nude

Place

Germany (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1920–1930

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Inscriptions

no markings recto or verso

Dimensions

Image: 10 × 29.8 cm (3 15/16 × 11 3/4 in.); Paper: 23.8 × 29.9 cm (9 3/8 × 11 13/16 in.)

Credit Line

The Mary and Leigh Block Endowment Fund

Reference Number

1997.408

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Share

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Learn more

Image actions

Share