Karl Fred Dahmen, German (1917 - 1981)
As a painter and object artist, Dahmen was one of the most
important representatives of Informel, and was therefore counted among the most
important artists of the German postwar period. Dahmen studied art initially at
the art school in Aachen (1931-1933) and then at
the Academy of Munich. The artist’s early work includes
tachistic oriented pictures as well as wood collages.
After an apprenticeship as a commercial artist, he became a
soldier at the air raid defense during World War II, during which time he
continued to draw and experiment with watercolor.
Following the war, Dahmen worked as a freelance painter after a
brief stint at the Academy of Art in Dusseldorf.
He became a co-founder of the 'Neue Aachener Gruppe' but like so many artists
at the time, felt the pull to study the latest artistic trends in Paris, where he moved in
1951. For the following nine years Dahmen was involved and working with the
famous Ecole de Paris movement.
He received his first international art award in Lausanne in 1959. Since
the mid 60s, Damhen increasingly integrated different objects in his work.
Between 1960-1967 he spent some time on Ibiza,
where he received the graphic-prize in 1972.
In 1967 he assumed the post of Professor of Fine Arts at the Munich Academy.
Since 1958 his prints and paintings have been regularly
exhibited throughout his native country, including venues in Dusseldorf,
Mannheim, Cologne,
Linz, Freiburg, Berlin and Lucerne.
Karl Fred Dahmen is equally esteemed for his paintings,
constructions and his original graphic art.