Karl Hubbuch

Karl Hubbuch studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe and later, together with George Grosz, in Berlin, under Emil Orlik. He then served in the First World War, and in the 1920s produced his first prints in a style close to Grosz. This was eventually followed by paintings on canvas in which Hubbuch applied his sharp, critical mind to a range of contemporary social concerns. In doing so, he maintained a veristic, neo-Objectivist style, not so much in a satirical vein, but with a humanitarian claim, as can be seen, for instance, in his politically motivated series “La France” (1931) and “Deutsche Belange” (German Interests) (1932/1933). In 1928 Hubbuch received a professorship at the Karlsruhe Academy which he continued after the Second World War, following an enforced break during Nazi rule. His post-war oeuvre, which was stylistically close to Max Beckmann, continued to be dominated by socio-critical works and included numerous antifascist drawings.