Karl Otto Hy

Karl Otto Hy (born October 28, 1904 in Rüdesheim am Rhein , † April 5, 1992 in Wiesbaden ) was a German architect , painter , commercial artist and draftsman .

Life

Karl Otto Hy grew up in Drosselgasse in Rüdesheim am Rhein. In 1911 his family moved to Wiesbaden. Hy attended schools in Heidelberg and Wiesbaden. From 1916 to 1918 he received his first art lessons in Hermann Bouffier's private painting school in Wiesbaden. He also visited Kaspar Kögler's studio . After the First World War, Hy initially wanted to become a locksmith , but since there were no vacant apprenticeships in this profession, he began training as a decorative painter .

In the following period he attended the arts and crafts schools in Mainz and Wiesbaden from 1925 to 1929 . His teachers at the time included Hans Christiansen , Otto Fischer-Trachau and Otto Arpke . Together with Fischer-Trachau he was involved in the development of the Rheingauviertel . In addition to his studies, Hy worked for the Wiesbaden architect Johann Wilhelm Lehr . From 1930 he worked primarily as a freelance commercial artist. His customers at the time included advertising companies, department stores, breweries and hotels. In addition to his work as a commercial artist, Hy also began to work as an architect. During this time he made contact with other artists from Wiesbaden such as Ernst Wolff-Malm , Edmund Fabry , Willy Mulot , Paul Dahlen and Alexej von Jawlensky . From 1934 to 1939, Hy also worked with Edmund Fabry on architectural commissions. In addition to private contracts, he also received contracts from the public sector.

In 1942, Hy was drafted into the Wehrmacht and was taken prisoner by the Soviets. Even during his imprisonment in central Siberia , Hy was active in his learned profession and "[built] warehouses, heating systems and housing developments."

In 1948 he returned from captivity and first arrived in Pforzheim. From there he returned to Wiesbaden and resumed his work as an architect. Between 1949 and 1956, city planning officer Eberhard Finsterwalder commissioned him with the restoration and redesign of public interiors. Among other things, he was involved in work at the Hessian State Theater , the Kaiser-Friedrich-Therme , the mourning hall at the Südfriedhof and the assembly hall of the municipal authorities in Wiesbaden.

In 1962, Hy moved to Georgenborn and from then on lived and worked there.

In addition to his work as a commercial artist and architect, Hy was also an artist well into old age. Drawings, watercolors and paintings were created. Hy painted landscapes, cityscapes, portraits , still lifes and abstractions. Especially his cool, neo-objective Wiesbaden cityscapes are extremely fine and detailed works that reveal the architect's gaze.

Memberships

Karl Otto Hy was a member of the Ring of Visual Artists Wiesbaden . From 1978 he was its chairman.

Group exhibitions (selection)

• 1938, "Art exhibition in Frankfurt am Main, the city of German handicrafts", Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt a. M.
• 1980, "Wiesbaden artists from 3 generations", Museum Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden
• 1987, exhibition together with Franz Ruzicka, Nassauischer Kunstverein, Wiesbaden
• 2014, “Landscapes - an intermediate realm of nature and civilization from imagination and reality”, Kunstarche Wiesbaden eV, Wiesbaden

Purchases

Works are u. a. owned by the city of Wiesbaden (“Spring”, oil, 1957), the Wiesbaden Museum (“The Kaiserstraße in Wiesbaden”, oil, 1934), the Wiesbaden-Dotzheim local authority (“View from Neroberg over Wiesbaden”, oil).

literature

• Alexander Hildebrand: Meticulousness and Atmosphere , in: Wiesbadener Leben (6/1992), 1992, page 15.
• Magistrate of the state capital Wiesbaden (ed.): Wiesbaden artists from 3 generations , Wiesbaden: Wilhelm Lautz, 1980, unpag. (Cat.No. 37–38).
• General artist lexicon, online version, artist ID: 42431199.
• Karl Otto Hy. Optical culture - Wiesbaden painter is 80 years old (author abbreviation AH), in: Wiesbadener Kurier , from 27./28. October 1984, page 9.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Handwritten curriculum vitae in the artist's estate.
2. ↑ Karl Otto Hy. Optical culture - Wiesbaden painter turns 80 years old (author abbreviation AH), in: Wiesbadener Kurier , from October 27/28, 1984, page 9.