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Oskar Schlemmer's art is closely linked to the Bauhaus institution. Having worked in Weimar from 1921, he then moved to Dessau in 1925, where he continued to experiment with new artistic ideas, combining various fields such as painting, wall design, sculpture, drawing, graphic art and stage design in his vision of an all-encompassing art. He was particularly interested in representing the human figure and its relationship to space.

After being dismissed by the National Socialists and banned from exhibiting, he lost his livelihood and worked intermittently in a painting business during the 1930s. A turning point came in 1940, when he was hired by the paint factory of Kurt Herberts in Wuppertal. There, he received commissions and explored the artistic potential of paint as a design material. Kurt Herberts, a Wuppertal entrepreneur and patron of the arts with an interest in anthroposophy, turned his factory into one of the most important paint production facilities in Germany, which also worked for the war industry. Despite adverse circumstances, his support opened up new creative perspectives for Schlemmer and other artists, such as Willi Baumeister and Franz Krause. Together, they formed the so-called 'Wuppertal Maltechnikum' (Wuppertal Painting Technical College).

Alongside his work for Herberts, Schlemmer created an impressive series of cityscapes in Wuppertal, as well as the so-called 'window pictures' from the house at Döppersberg 24. The small gouache 'Wuppertal bei Nacht. Flak-Scheinwerfer' from 1942 shows a vaguely rendered view of the city. The supposed nocturnal idyll is shattered by the light of anti-aircraft searchlights scanning the skies for attacking bombers.