Our History

Students with Gerard & Elisabeth Wagner in 1988

The painting school was originally in the Goetheanum building and consisted of part-time classes taught by different artists. When the Atelierhaus was built in the 1960s the ‘Goetheanum Painting School’ moved there becoming two separate schools taught by the painters Beppe Assenza (1905-1985) and Gerard Wagner.

Gerard Wagner’s earliest colleagues were Erwin Thomalla and Elisabeth Koch (from 1983 Elisabeth Wagner). After Gerard Wagner’s death in 1999 the responsibility for the school, which up until then was in the hands of Gerard and Elisabeth Wagner, passed on to Caroline Chanter.

At Michaelmas 2015 the name of the school changed to the Rudolf Steiner Painting School (Rudolf Steiner Malschule). The school has retained its international character and attracts students worldwide. At the present time the majority of students are English speakers.