Peter Keler

A native of Kiel, Germany, Peter Keler was an active participant in the artist’s colony of Worpswede in the early 1920s. Inspired by the Arts & Crafts Movement in England, Keler aligned himself with the the Swiss-German Lebensrefor movement. The impact of the movement’s vision of far-reaching social and political reform is readily apparent in the diversity of Keler’s output, which included painting, graphic design, architecture, photography and furniture. When his colleague Wilhelm Wagenfeld left Worpeswede for the Bauhaus in Weimar, Keler followed in his footsteps. In the summer of 1922, Keler became a member of KURI (an acronym for constructive, utilitarian, rational, international), a group of designers and artists with constructivist ambitions active at the Bauhaus. Following his departure from the Bauhaus, Keler established his own studio for fine and applied painting, graphic design, advertising and interior design.