Karl Otto Gotz Contemporary German abstract artist Date of Birth: 22.02.1914 Country: Germany

Biography of Karl Otto Götz

Karl Otto Götz is a contemporary German abstract artist and one of the founders of German informel art movement. He studied painting at the School of Applied Arts in Aachen. However, when the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, he was prohibited from drawing and exhibiting his works. Nonetheless, Götz secretly violated this ban imposed by the Imperial Chamber of Culture. His first abstract paintings were created in 1939. During World War II, the artist was mobilized and served in Norway.

In the 1940s, Götz's paintings were dominated by surrealist motifs inspired by the works of Max Ernst, Richard Oelze, and Wols. He became acquainted with and befriended Willy Baumeister in 1942. In the immediate post-war years, the artist's canvases were filled with abstract figures and surrealist images. Immediately after the war, Götz joined the Order of the Rosicrucians, which included many former members of the Bauhaus, such as Willy Baumeister, Ernst Wilhelm Nay, and Heinz Hartung, among others. In 1948, together with Emil Schumacher and two other young artists, he was awarded the "Young West" prize in Recklinghausen.

In 1949, Götz was the only German artist invited to participate in the significant COBRA art group exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. In December 1952, together with Bernard Schultze, Heinz Kreutz, and Otto Greis, he organized an art exhibition at the Frank Gallery in Frankfurt. On the opening night, the artists formed the Quadrige group, which became the germ of the German informel movement in abstract art. From 1959 to 1979, Götz served as a professor at the Academy of Arts in Düsseldorf. In 2007, he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit, First Class. Currently, the master resides in Niederbreitbach.