Born in
Berlin on 5 October 1887, Ackermann started carving wooden figures and modelling ornaments in his father's studio at an early age. From 1905 to 1907 he studied under
Henry van de Velde at his studio in
Weimar and at
Gotthardt Kuehl's studio in
Dresden (1908–09). From 1909 to 1910, he furthered his studies in
Franz von Stuck's class at the
Munich Art Academy. In 1912, aged 25, he attended the
State Academy of Fine Arts in
Stuttgart, where he worked as an apprentice of
Adolf Hölzel, who "introduced Ackermann to non-representational painting and turned out to have a formative influence on his future works", and he began to paint abstractly. Ackermann joined the
Landsturm in the
First World War, where he was wounded and discharged following a lengthy period in hospital, after which from 1918 to 1919 he was a member of
Der Blaue Reiter, ('the Blue Rider'). In 1921 the artist met pioneer of abstract dance
Rudolf von Laban, "with whom he entered into a vivid discussion about dance notation and counterpoint, inspiring Ackermann to rhythmic blind paintings". == Selected works ==