1914 - 1918 apprenticeship as lithographer at the Kunstgewerbeschule Marburg, among others with Richard Winckel and Kurt Tuch. 1919 - 1921 with scholarship at the same school.

1921 - 1925 study at the Bauhaus in Weimar with Johannes Itten and afterwards at the Bauhaus in Dessau. 1926 - 1929 stay in Dresden, there participation in an exhibition of the Dresdener Secession. 1929 - 1930 in Ascona, Switzerland, where he became acquainted with the works of Surrealism, until 1932 stay in Berlin.

1933 emigration to Paris, until 1938 alternating stays in Paris, Switzerland and Italy, acquaintance with Surrealists, among others Salvador Dali, Max Ernst. 1938 return to Germany, from 1939 residence in Worpswede. 1939 - 1945 military service and captivity in the Second World War. 1945 return to Worpswede, stay until 1962, then move to Gut Posteholz near Hameln. 1965 member of the Akademie der Künste in Berlin. Participation at documenta 2 and documenta 3.