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The human figure lies at the heart of Oskar Schlemmer’s work. Abstracting from natural models, he constructed it – as can be seen in ‘Relief H’ – from an ensemble of geometric forms. He referred to this overarching form as an ornament.
At the legendary ‘Lacktechnikum’ (paint laboratory) of the Wuppertal-based paint manufacturer Kurt Herberts, which Schlemmer headed in 1940–41, he experimented with a wide variety of materials and techniques to decorate walls and everyday objects. His aim was to ‘… derive conscious formal elements of an ornamental-abstract nature’ from what the technique dictated. Throughout, however, he always kept the human figure in mind.
Alongside his experiments with lacquer, Schlemmer produced numerous studies, sketches and drawings that reveal his intensive engagement with abstraction and ornamentation. A collection of 300 sheets relating to wall designs is now housed in the Von der Heydt Museum.
The ‘Lackkabinett’ was to be the crowning achievement of his lacquer experiments. It was conceived as a showroom that would comprehensively showcase the possibilities of modern lacquer painting. The walls and ceilings were to be adorned with three rows of panels—monochrome, patterned, ornamental and also figurative—in varying sizes. The floor was to consist of black tiles. ‘Everything should be a matter of measure and proportion, and possess that refinement which compels one to behave within it as well as one would imagine oneself behaving in Far Eastern society,’ Schlemmer described his idea. Two coloured designs have survived, showing how the impression changes when light-grey panels are replaced with deep black ones.