Richard Oelze is regared as one of the most important German Surrealists. This monograph - the most detailed study available at present - places central works from his oeuvre in the context of the major influences in his life: notably his studies at the Weimar Bauhaus, where he studied with Klee and took part in the foundation course taught by Johannes Itten. During his time in Dresden, which Oelze later described as the most important period of his life, he enrolled as a student of Otto Dix and Richard Müller. Finally, in the 1930s, he met the French Surrealists in Paris.