Google
Oskar Schlemmer's greatest work completely changed how people perceived the ballet.
Google celebrated what would have been Schlemmer's 130th birthday with a Google Doodle showcasing, in GIF form, the geometrical wonders of the Triadisches Ballett or Triadic Ballet -- Schlemmer's masterpiece.
Schlemmer joined Walter Gropius's famed German art school, Bauhaus, in 1920. In September of 1923, the Triadic Ballet debuted. The performance is a convention-destroying modernization of ballet, utilizing three dancers, three acts, 12 movements and 18 costumes. It's been described as a "ballet of geometry" in the past and Schlemmer described it as "a party of form and colour".
You can watch a recreation of that famous performance on YouTube. It is both frightening, with bulbous appendages and sharp-edged limbs bouncing around the screen. It's very bright. There's a lot of yellow. It's kind of like a candy-coated horror film.
It's not at all how I imagined the ballet -- but it is totally fascinating.
Though his most famous work, Schlemmer was also a successful artist and sculptor, continuing to draw on themes relating to the human body and its relationship with the space around it.
He died in 1943.
If you're based in the US, you likely missed the cute tribute to Schlemmer. Americans got a Google Doodle on Sept. 3 to celebrate Labor Day, instead. Those in Australia, China, Argentina and more got to witness the Doodle's performance.
Taking It to Extremes: Mix insane situations -- erupting volcanoes, nuclear meltdowns, 30-foot waves -- with everyday tech. Here's what happens.
'Hello, humans': Google's Duplex could make Assistant the most lifelike AI yet.
The video will start in 8 Cancel
Get Daily updates directly to your inbox Subscribe See our privacy notice Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
Today's Google Doodle celebrates Groundbreaking artist Oskar Schlemmer, who would have celebrated his 130th birthday on September 4.
The German born painter, sculptor and choreographer became closely associated with the Bauhaus school - and was a big influence on David Bowie.
The global search engine is wishing Oskar a happy birthday with the following dedication: "Bulbous mechanical creatures wearing metallic masks are not the usual image that comes to mind when one thinks of ballet.
"But that’s precisely what Oskar Schlemmer used to stage his ‘Triadic Ballet,’ a groundbreaking production that premiered in Stuttgart, Germany in 1922.
"With three dancers, 12 movements, and 18 costumes, Schlemmer’s innovative approach to ballet broke with all convention to explore the relationship between body and space in new and exciting ways.
"He described the performance as 'artistic metaphysical mathematics' and a 'party in form and colour'.
(Image: Google)
"Born on this day in 1888, Schlemmer was the youngest of six children who attended art school before traveling to in Weimar, Germany to join Walter Gropius’s avant-garde Bauhaus, where he became director of stage research and production.
"Schlemmer also experimented with painting, sculpture, but it was his creative theater designs that are most remembered, influencing future artists like David Bowie.
"He once described the themes of his work: 'the human figure in space, its moving and stationary functions, sitting, lying, walking, standing” as being “as simple as they are universally valid.”
"Happy Birthday Oskar Schlemmer!"
Bowie was said to be influenced by the Oskar for his Ziggy Stardust stage show, which used mathematical shapes in many of the costumes.
(Image: Getty)
Oskar died in 1948.
Some 50 years later, his painting Idealistic Encounter from 1928 was sold for $1.487million (about £1.1m) at Sotheby's in New York.
Want more news?
To keep up to date with Plymouth Live's latest news, follow us on Facebook here and Twitter here, or visit our homepage at www.plymouthlive.com
For Devon news, find Devon Live's Facebook page here, or our Twitter page here, or visit our homepage at www.devonlive.com
For Cornwall news, find Cornwall Live's Facebook page here, or our Twitter page here, or visit our r homepage at www.cornwalllive.com
Today is Oskar Schlemmer’s 130th birthday
Few would be able to guess what today’s Google Doodle is about at a glance, but what the unusual balletic scene is celebrating is Oskar Schlemmer’s 130th birthday.
You may not recognise the name or even the face of the man, but you may well have come across some of Schlemmer’s artwork given that he produced paintings, sculptures and dance performances over his career.
The German was an influential teacher at the Bauhaus School in the 1920s, a hugely important movement in the first half of the 20th century that would have a massive impact on modern design.
However, what the Google Doodle is celebrating is Schlemmer’s most notable work, the Triadisches Ballett.
Oskar Schlemmer’s Google Doodle (Picture: Google)
Schlemmer’s work as a choreographer saw him premiere the Triadisches Ballett (Triadic Ballet) in Stuttgart in 1922.
The ballet was actually performed in early forms as far back as 1916, but it was the 1922 version that became the an international success for Schlemmer and Bauhaus.
Advertisement
Advertisement
The Triadisches Ballett has three acts and only three dancers and was described as Schlemmer as a ‘party of form and colour.
The dancers were made to look like figurines or puppets by geometrical cylinder, sphere, cone, and spiral shapes making up the costumes.
Schlemmer enjoyed the movements of puppets and considered it more aesthetically pleasing to that of humans.
Oskar Schlemmer died in 1943 age 54
Schlemmer was born in Stuttgart in 1888 and took up a career in painting when he moved to Berlin in 1910, before returning to his home city two years later.
However, this was interrupted by a call up to the First World War in 1914, during which he was wounded, seeing him leave combat before the end of the war.
‘Bauhaus Stairway.’ Oil On Canvas By Oskar Schlemmer, 1932 (Picture: REX/Shutterstock)
Oskar married Helena Tutein in 1920 and spent most of the 1920s at the Bauhaus School, during which time he premiered the Triadisches Ballett.
However, some of his most recognisable paintings came after he left Bauhaus in 1929, such as the ‘Bauhaustreppe’, (‘Bauhaus Stairway’) in 1932.
Balcony scene, 1932 (Oskar Schlemmer) (Picture: REX/Shutterstock)
When the Nazis took control of Germany, Schlemmer’s work was attacked and he was forced to resign from his position at Berlin’s United State School for Fine and Applied Art.
He produced just a small collection of work from 1932 until his death in 1943, the majority of which were his ‘Window Pictures’ which were just observations from looking out of his house.
It is not clear what exactly Schlemmer died of in April 1943, just that he had fallen ill the previous summer and little could be done for him despite visits to numerous hospitals.
Advertisement
Advertisement
He was just 54 when he died.
MORE: Family of Instagram star who died on luxury yacht are told ‘don’t look at her body’
MORE: Mum of murdered schoolgirl Lucy McHugh urges Facebook to hand over suspect’s password
Moneycontrol News
Today's Google Doodle pays tribute to German painter, sculptor, designer and choreographer Oskar Schlemmer on his 130th birth anniversary, which shows a bulbous mechanical figure wearing a metallic mask standing in a ballet pose.
Schlemmer is well-known for staging “Triadisches Ballett” or “Triadic Ballet”, which was premiered in Stuttgart in 1922.
“With three dancers, 12 movements, and 18 costumes, Oskar Schlemmer’s innovative approach to ballet broke with all convention to explore the relationship between body and space in new and exciting ways,” Google said in its tribute to this great artist.
Schlemmer described this performance as “artistic metaphysical mathematics” and a “party in form and colour”.
Born in 1888, Schlemmer, the youngest of six children studied art in Stuttgart under landscape painters Christian Landenberger and Friedrich von Keller. He moved to Walter Gropius’s avant-garde Bauhaus School in Weimar to teach in the mural-painting and sculpture departments and later worked in Berlin but was forced to resign because of pressure from the Nazis.
The last decade of his life was marred by the Nazi dictatorship and defamation of his works. He eventually died of heart attack on April 13, 1943.
His final work entitled “Fensterbilder" ("Window Pictures," 1942), included a series of eighteen small and mystical paintings. His painting titled Idealistic Encounter was sold in 1988 for $1.487 million at Sotheby's in New York.
In the modern day, popular artists like David Bowie were influenced by Schlemmer's theatre designs, choreography and his works of abstract art.
