| 1898 | born in Königsberg | |
| 1924 - 1926 | Studied typography and applied graphics at the Städelschule in Frankfurt/M. Subsequently teacher of applied graphics at the Städtische Handelsschule in Frankfurt/M. | |
| 1930 | works as a freelance artist in Berlin, friendship with Wassily Kandinsky | |
| 1933 | Closing of the exhibition with Josef Albers in Braunschweig, exhibition ban, continues to paint abstract pictures in secret | |
| 1936 | Denunciation leads to imprisonment in Dachau concentration camp | |
| 1949 | Co-founder of the artist group "ZEN 49" in Munich with Willi Baumeister, Brigitte Matschinsky-Denninghoff, among others | |
| 1954 | Guest professorship at the University of Fine Arts Hamburg | |
| 1956 - 1973 | Teaching at Munich Community College | |
| 1957 | Art Prize of the City of Munich as one of the most important representatives of non-figurative painting in Germany | |
| 1979 | dies in Munich |