All of the "companions" studied together with Schlemmer at the Stuttgart Academy between 1906 and 1919 and were students of Adolf Hölzel. Since some of these students were dissatisfied with the traditional teaching methods, Hölzel found great favor with the young artists. He broke new ground with his painting of abstract color surfaces based on Goethe's theory of color, and his special encouragement of the technique of pastel was also enthusiastically received. The "Hölzel Circle" that grew out of this formed another center of Classical Modernism in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century - similar to the "Brücke" in Dresden and the "Blaue Reiter" in Munich.
Oskar Schlemmer and the "Üecht" Group
In 1919, after numerous hostilities, Hölzel left the Academy in disappointment. Oskar Schlemmer, Willi Baumeister, Gottfried Graf, Edmund Daniel Kinzinger, Albert Mueller and Hans Spiegel then founded the "Üecht" group. Their name, inspired by the Old High German "uohta" (dawn, daybreak), was a metaphor for the hope for a new art and society that many groups of artists harbored after World War I. The group's work was also inspired by the "Üecht" group. One important goal was to bring Paul Klee to Stuttgart as Hölzel's successor, but his appointment failed because of Stuttgart's conservative art climate.
Both in the graphics cabinet at "Schlemmer's Companions in Stuttgart" and in the Great State Exhibition "Oskar Schlemmer - Visions of a New World" we present some works created during this period.