Karl Völker

Karl Völker (17 October 1889 – 28 December 1962) was a German architect and painter associated with the New Objectivity movement.

He was born in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt and, after an apprenticeship as an interior decorator, studied in 1912-1913 at the Dresden School of Arts and Crafts where Richard Guhr was his teacher. He joined the Berlin "Red Group" in 1924, and was a contributor to the journal Das Wort. His early paintings, such as Industriebild (Industrial Picture, 1923) are in a constructivist style.

He worked as an architect until 1933, when Hitler took power. Declared a degenerate artist by the Nazis, he was forced to support himself from 1933 to 1943 performing architectural conservation work.

After military service in World War II he resumed working as an architect and painter. He died in Halle in 1962.

References

• Michalski, Sergiusz (1994). New Objectivity. Cologne: Benedikt Taschen. ISBN 3-8228-9650-0
• Schmied, Wieland (1978). Neue Sachlichkeit and German Realism of the Twenties. London: Arts Council of Great Britain. ISBN 0-7287-0184-7