Karl Erich Koch

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Karl-Erich Koch in the studio over coffee

Karl-Erich Koch (born October 21, 1910 in Berlin ; † March 5, 2000 in Berlin) was a German painter and graphic artist of the 20th century.

Life

Federal Archives: Art and Literature Prize to Karl-Erich Koch (right)

Karl-Erich Koch passed the aptitude test at the Prussian Academy of the Arts , where he met Käthe Kollwitz ; Sitting on the examination board, she confirmed his artistic talent. However, after the death of his father, who until then had been the city secretary for the Berlin magistrate, Karl-Erich had to leave the Reform-Real-Gymnasium in Zehlendorf. The financial circumstances forced him to do an apprenticeship as a decorative painter; where he continued to pursue the artistic work with great passion. At the age of 18 he secretly got engaged to Anneliese Mustroph, his future wife, who was currently city secretary at the district office of Zehlendorf, as well as a pianist and organist. In 1930 the first participation in the exhibition in the Zehlendorf town hall followed, with the portrait of Anneliese; the honorary chairman is Max Liebermann . During the exhibition he got to know many other well-known artists, including the painter and graphic artist Felix Krause from Kleinmachnow. In 1934 he began studying nude and portraiture with Professor Otto Freytag in the Association of Visual Artists eV Berlin . He married Anneliese Koch, with whom he had lived in Kleinmachnow since the 1930s, in 1935. Between 1945 and 1949 he was a Soviet prisoner of war. From 1949 he also worked as a commercial artist and advertising manager at the VEB equipment and control plant in Teltow . A long-term friendship with Kurt Zieger, also a painter and graphic artist from Stahnsdorf, began here. Immediately after 1949 he took part in numerous national and international exhibitions in Germany, Poland, Belarus and China. In 1953 he took part in the 3rd German Art Exhibition in Dresden . In 1958 he created the graphic cycle "Thema 61" about working life in VEB production companies, which he relocated. In 1960 he received the GDR Art and Literature Prize for his “Illustration for the Brigade Diary”. In 1966 he published the work “One next to you” with Vilmos Korn . In 1996 Karl-Erich Koch was still active in old age and got involved. Under the artist name “CARLOTTO” he invented “OVALISM” and at the age of 86 he began to work on the series - a satire on the “art business” and society through painting and text. In 1998 the German Historical Museum bought some of its large lithographs from the graphic cycle "Thema 61".

Awards (selection)

Illustrations (selection)

  • Beyond the Wall: Art and everyday objects from the GDR. Catalog cover, 2014

Works (selection)

  • SH Begenau: How the cycle “Die Brigade” came about - on the works by Karl-Erich Koch that were awarded the FDGB Art Prize in Karl-Marx-Stadt . Henschel-Verlag, Berlin 1960.
  • Karl-Erich Koch: Subject 61 . Verlag Tribüne, Berlin-Treptow 1961.
  • Karl-Erich Koch: The artistic judgment won in life - on the work of Alois Kowol . Fine arts Henschel-Verlag, Berlin 1962.
  • Karl-Erich Koch: One next to you . Verlag Freier Dt. Trade Union Confederation, Potsdam 1966.
  • Karl-Erich Koch: Air helps automate - the basics and devices of low-pressure pneumatics are presented in an easy-to-understand manner . Verlag VEB Geräte- u. Regulator-Werke Teltow, Berlin 1966.

Web links

Commons : Karl-Erich Koch  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Koch, Karl Erich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Koch, Karl-Erich (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German painter and graphic artist
DATE OF BIRTH October 21, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH March 5, 2000
Place of death Berlin