Paul Citroen

1896–1983

While studying painting in Berlin Paul Citroen (Dutch, 1896–1986)became part of the artistic circle grouped around the journal Der Sturm. In 1917 he relocated to Amsterdam, where he and Erwin Blumenfeld became the driving forces of the Dutch Dada movement. From 1922 to 1924 Citroen studied at the Bauhaus in Weimar with Johannes Itten. Umbo introduced Citroen to photography in 1926, inspiring him to take portraits and make photomontages. In 1929 he met Werner Rohde in Paris. Back in Amsterdam Citroen founded a Bauhaus-oriented art school in 1933. He gave up photography and began teaching at the Academy of the Arts in The Hague in 1935.