Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Mies was one of the seminal modernist architects; his buildings possess superb proportion and an influential stripped-down aesthetic (echoed in his pithy aphorisms). His first job was with Paul; he then met Gropius, and probably Corbusier, as fellow-apprentices under Behrens. Lissitzky was a close friend and collaborator on the progressive design-journal ‘G’, along with Richter and Schwitters. Gropius, Kandinsky and Albers were Bauhaus colleagues. Aalto, Siskind and Callahan were friends, van Doesburg warmly so. An afternoon with Wright became four days. In the U.S., Johnson was a great supporter, and Beckmann, Gabo and Pevsner expatriate drinking companions.