6 April 1888 – 1 February 1976, was a German painter, graphic artist, avant-garde filmmaker, and art writer associated with the Dada movement. Born in Berlin, he studied at the Berlin Academy of Art and later at the Academy in Weimar before becoming involved with avant-garde artistic circles in the early 1910s.

During the First World War he was wounded and traveled to Zurich in 1916 for treatment, where he came into contact with the emerging Dada movement. There he joined artists such as Hugo Ball, Tristan Tzara, and Hans Arp and participated in exhibitions and activities connected to early Dada in Zurich.

In the early 1920s he became a pioneer of abstract and experimental film. Works such as Rhythmus 21 (1921) explored moving geometric forms and are considered important early examples of abstract cinema.

In 1941 he emigrated to the United States and later directed the film institute at the City College of New York. Alongside filmmaking and painting, he wrote about modern art and the history of Dada, including the book Dada: Art and Anti-Art(1964). He returned to Europe in 1958 and continued working as an artist and writer until his death in Minusio, Switzerland.

Reference
Biography text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), German edition. Retrieved March 16, 2026.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Richter_(Dadaist)