The painter Werner Schramm

Werner Schramm (1898 – 1970) was a son of merchants. After a classical education, he entered the school of Decorative Arts in Düsseldorf. Like many artists, he was influenced by German expressionism but also by the first attempts at abstract art. The discovery of the Isenheim Altarpiece of Matthias Grünewald, temporarily exhibited in Munich, was a revelation to him and inspired him to use middle-ages techniques: a well accomplished drawing on a priming of chalk or plaster with a mixture of oil and yolk of egg as paint.

In 1920 he was appointed decorator at the theatre of Düsseldorf. He later lived in Italy and France. He died in Düsseldorf.