The self-taught German painter César Domela began his career in 1920, by producing landscapes and still lifes which are related, in their abstraction, to synthetic Cubism. On travelling to Germany, he met Constructivist artists and became a friend of Arthur Segal and others. He exhibited with the Novembergruppe in 1923 in Berlin and, in 1924, moved to Paris where he met Mondrian and Van Doesburg, joining the De Stijl group. In Amsterdam, he exhibited with well-known abstract artists and, in 1927, settled in Berlin. He was a member of Die Abstrakten Hannover and contributed to various vanguard magazines. In 1931, he organised the first major Photomontage exhibition at the Staatliche Kunstbibliothek and, in 1933, he returned to Paris, joining the Abstraction-Création group. He was one of the founders of the Salon des Realités Nouvelles where he held exhibitions up until 1968 and spread his ideas on art through various magazines and lectures. It could well be said that Domela influenced, in large measure, the work of many of his contemporary artists and of subsequent generations.
