Amoeba-like creatures, abstract forms, and mysterious line formations inhabit Baumeister's canvas stage. If one thinks to be able to recognize familiar figurations at a first glance, the floating creatures will soon elude any common classification at a second glance. It is only through the interplay of all the forces that determine the picture’s final form. The 'Eidos' pictures, to which the present "Mit Amöbenform" (With Amoeba Form) belongs, are considered the apex of Baumeister's art in the 1930s. 'Eidos' means archetype, not in a static understanding, but in a dynamic sense, with a strong potential for transformation of the form. The central form is represented by the amoeba, known for its ability to alter its shape. The name is programmatic here, since it is capable of changing its shape and to take on ever new appearances. Baumeister visualizes this capability in the present work. Although the blue, white, and dark red animals seem to share a certain kinship, they are independent in their form. Also, the outlines do not clearly determine the shape, as the two dominating forms show. It seems as if these surrealistic compositions modify themselves anew directly in front of the observer’s eye. This transformation is the determining force in the creation of the picture and it also determines Baumeister's intellectual examination of this time. Especially Goethe's metamorphosis theory, which he developed on the basis of his morphological studies of plants and animals, is to be mentioned here as a fundamental component. It is remarkable that despite the turbulent times in the 1930s, both politically and personally, he continued his artistic activities and even found novel artistic expressions. "Mit Amöbenform" was created in 1938, a year after the exhibition 'Degenerate Art' and a year before WWII broke out. A time that was coined by an ideology that defamed and excluded artists like Willi Baumeister. In 1933, shortly after Hitler had seized power, the 44-year-old was dismissed from his teaching post at the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main. However, despite these adverse circumstances, Baumeister continued to pursue his artistic path. Form and color emancipated themselves from one another and developed a groundbreaking momentum of their own. The process aspect accompanied Baumeister throughout his artistic career, and it is only a logic consequence that he is considered one of the most important and significant artists of Modernism today. [AW]