Karl Hubbuch
Encyclopedia
Karl Hubbuch was a German
painter, printmaker
, and draftsman associated with the New Objectivity
.
Hubbuch was born in Karlsruhe
. From 1908 to 1912, he studied art at the Karlsruhe Academy, where he formed friendships with fellow students Georg Scholz
and Rudolf Schlichter
. He continued his studies with Emil Orlik
at the Berlin Museum of Arts and Crafts School
until the First World War. From 1914 to 1918 he served in the military, where he contracted malaria
. He spent the period after the war recuperating before resuming his studies in a master class at the Karlsruhe Academy. In 1924, Hubbuch was given a position as an assistant lithography
instructor at the Karlsruhe Academy. He became the head of the drawing department the following year, and in 1928 he was appointed professor.
During this period, Hubbuch was much more active as a draftsman than as a painter. His drawings and prints of the early 1920s, sharply realistic in style, are highly critical of the social and economic order. A trip to Berlin
in 1922—during which he met George Grosz
—inspired the creation of several drawings in which Hubbuch depicted himself as an observer who reacts to the urban dynamism surrounding him. He exhibited several drawings and prints, as well as his oil painting, The Classroom, in the seminal "Neue Sachlichkeit' ("New Objectivity") exhibition at the Kunsthalle in Mannheim
in 1925.
In 1927 he married Hilde (née Isai), who came from Trier
, and who had studied photography at the Bauhaus
. Her likeness is recognizable in many of Hubbuch's works of the 1920s, such as Zweimal Hilde ("Hilde Twice"), painted in 1923. Hubbuch published collections of satirical drawings, and in 1930 he collaborated with Erwin Spuler and Anton Weber in publishing the critical and satirical magazine "Zakpo
". As a known antifascist, Hubbuch was dismissed in 1933 from his teaching position and forbidden to paint by the Nazi authorities. Until 1945 he supported himself with commercial jobs which included decorating ceramics and painting clock faces.
After the war he was able to resume his post as a professor of painting at the Karlsruhe Academy of Fine Arts
, where he would teach until 1957. He worked in relative obscurity during this later period, painting and drawing in a style close to expressionism
. In the 1960s the revival of interest in figurative art brought new attention to his work, along with a reevaluation of the artists of the New Objectivity in general.
Failing eyesight forced him to stop working after 1970. Karl Hubbuch died in 1979 in Karlsruhe, where approximately 100 of his works are now housed in Gochsheim Castle
.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
painter, printmaker
Printmaking
Printmaking is the process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper. Printmaking normally covers only the process of creating prints with an element of originality, rather than just being a photographic reproduction of a painting. Except in the case of monotyping, the process is capable...
, and draftsman associated with the New Objectivity
New Objectivity
The New Objectivity is a term used to characterize the attitude of public life in Weimar Germany as well as the art, literature, music, and architecture created to adapt to it...
.
Hubbuch was born in Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
. From 1908 to 1912, he studied art at the Karlsruhe Academy, where he formed friendships with fellow students Georg Scholz
Georg Scholz
Georg Scholz was a German realist painter.Scholz was born in Wolfenbüttel and had his artistic training at the Karlsruhe Academy, where his teachers included Hans Thoma and Wilhelm Trübner. He later studied in Berlin under Lovis Corinth...
and Rudolf Schlichter
Rudolf Schlichter
Rudolf Schlichter was a German artist and one of the most important representatives of the Neue Sachlichkeit movement....
. He continued his studies with Emil Orlik
Emil Orlík
Emil Orlik was born in Prague, which was at that time part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and lived and worked in Prague, Austria and Germany...
at the Berlin Museum of Arts and Crafts School
Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin
The Kunstgewerbemuseum, or Museum of Decorative Arts, is an internationally important museum of the decorative arts in Berlin, Germany, part of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin...
until the First World War. From 1914 to 1918 he served in the military, where he contracted malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
. He spent the period after the war recuperating before resuming his studies in a master class at the Karlsruhe Academy. In 1924, Hubbuch was given a position as an assistant lithography
Lithography
Lithography is a method for printing using a stone or a metal plate with a completely smooth surface...
instructor at the Karlsruhe Academy. He became the head of the drawing department the following year, and in 1928 he was appointed professor.
During this period, Hubbuch was much more active as a draftsman than as a painter. His drawings and prints of the early 1920s, sharply realistic in style, are highly critical of the social and economic order. A trip to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
in 1922—during which he met George Grosz
George Grosz
Georg Ehrenfried Groß was a German artist known especially for his savagely caricatural drawings of Berlin life in the 1920s...
—inspired the creation of several drawings in which Hubbuch depicted himself as an observer who reacts to the urban dynamism surrounding him. He exhibited several drawings and prints, as well as his oil painting, The Classroom, in the seminal "Neue Sachlichkeit' ("New Objectivity") exhibition at the Kunsthalle in Mannheim
Mannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
in 1925.
In 1927 he married Hilde (née Isai), who came from Trier
Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
, and who had studied photography at the Bauhaus
Bauhaus
', commonly known simply as Bauhaus, was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. At that time the German term stood for "School of Building".The Bauhaus school was founded by...
. Her likeness is recognizable in many of Hubbuch's works of the 1920s, such as Zweimal Hilde ("Hilde Twice"), painted in 1923. Hubbuch published collections of satirical drawings, and in 1930 he collaborated with Erwin Spuler and Anton Weber in publishing the critical and satirical magazine "Zakpo
Zakpo
Zakpo: Monatsschrift für Zeitkunst, Zeitbetrachtung, Satire und Karikatur was an artists' magazine published in 1930 in Karlsruhe, Germany by the actor Hermann Brand and the artists Karl Hubbuch, Erwin Spuler and Anton Weber who had been art students at Badischen Landeskunstschule in Karlsruhe...
". As a known antifascist, Hubbuch was dismissed in 1933 from his teaching position and forbidden to paint by the Nazi authorities. Until 1945 he supported himself with commercial jobs which included decorating ceramics and painting clock faces.
After the war he was able to resume his post as a professor of painting at the Karlsruhe Academy of Fine Arts
Academy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe
The State Academy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe, situated in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, is one of the smaller art schools in Germany with average 300 students....
, where he would teach until 1957. He worked in relative obscurity during this later period, painting and drawing in a style close to expressionism
Expressionism
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
. In the 1960s the revival of interest in figurative art brought new attention to his work, along with a reevaluation of the artists of the New Objectivity in general.
Failing eyesight forced him to stop working after 1970. Karl Hubbuch died in 1979 in Karlsruhe, where approximately 100 of his works are now housed in Gochsheim Castle
Gochsheim Castle
Gochsheim Castle is an old royal residence in the Kraichtal area of Baden-Württemberg, in the north-eastern part of Karlsruhe, Germany. It currently houses a museum and holds around 100 works of local artist Karl Hubbuch who died in 1979....
.