Edmund Kesting and Der Weg, 1919–1933

Edmund Kesting and Lothar Schreyer, eds. Die Schrift der Weg, aus den Lehr- und Werkstätten Dresden und Berlin (The Publication Der Weg, from the classrooms and studios in Dresden and Berlin), no. 1 (1926)
Linocut and letterpress (31 pages), 7 5/8 x 7 7/8" (20.7 x 20.5 cm)

In 1919, the same year that the Bauhaus opened in Weimar, Edmund Kesting (German, 1892–1970), an Expressionist artist affiliated with Der Sturm, founded his own private art school in Dresden under the title Der Weg (The Path or The Way). In 1926, he opened a branch of Der Weg in Berlin under the direction of the former Bauhaus theater master Lothar Schreyer (German, 1886–1966). In 1933, both branches were closed.

The materials presented here are drawn from a collection of documentation gathered by the art historian Eckhard Neumann (1933–2006) in preparation for the exhibition Der Weg: Neue Schule für Kunst, Galleria del Levante, Munich (February–March 1972).

Kesting is perhaps best remembered today as an experimental photographer. The exhibition Edmund Kesting: Avantgardist, currently on view at the Kunstmuseum Moritzburg, Halle (August 2–October 25, 2026), examines his broader cross-media practice as well as the pedagogical impact of Der Weg. 

Brochure: Der Weg: Neue Schule für Ausdruckskunst in Dresden
(new school for expressive art), c. 1919
Woodcut and letterpress, 8 x 6 1/4" (21 x 15.8 cm), closed

Students and model in the drawing studio of Der Weg, Dresden, 1925
(date of photographic print unknown)
Gelatin silver print, 3 1/2 x 5 1/2" (8.8 x 13.9 cm)

L. Card: Der Weg: Neue Schule für Kunst, Lehrstätten und Werkstätten (classrooms and workshops),
Edmund Kesting, director, Dresden and Berlin, c. 1926
Lithograph, 5 3/4 x 4 1/4" (14.6 x 10.7 cm) 

R. Form letter on Der Weg: Neue Schule für Kunst letterhead announcing opening of Berlin branch, January 12, 1926

Lithograph, mimeograph, and stamp on paper, 11 1/4 x 8 7/8” (28.5 x 22.5 cm)

Folded card (front and back): Edmund Kesting and Lothar Schreyer, eds. Der Weg: Neue Schule für Kunst, Lehr- und Stundenplan (curriculum and schedule), Dresden and Berlin, c. 1926
Letterpress, 4 3/4 x 17 7/16" (12 x 44.2 cm), open

Student work from Der Weg, Dresden, E. Kesting, director, c. 1919–1933
Each: Woodcut, 11 3/4 x 9" (29.8 x 22.8 cm)

Maquette: Der Weg: Kunstschule für Gestaltung (Art School for Form-Giving), Leitung Edm. Kesting, Dresden, c. 1925
Gouache and ink on paper, 11 5/8 x 8 1/2" (29.5 x 21.5 cm)

Maquette: Entw. Der Weg (design by Der Weg), Zet Farben für Künstler:
Die Farben des Ernstschafenden Künstlers
(Zet paints for artists: Paints of the seriously creative artist),
Günther Wagner, Hannover-Vienna, c. 1925
Gouache and ink on tracing paper, 7 1/8 x 7 1/8” (18 x 18 cm)

September 9, 2026