Heinrich Hoerle

Heinrich Hoerle (September 1, 1895 – July 7, 1936) was a German constructivist artist of the New Objectivity movement.

Hoerle was born in Cologne. He studied at the Cologne School of Arts and Crafts but was mostly self-taught as an artist. After military service in World War I he became active in the Cologne Dada scene, publishing in 1920 the "Krüppelmappe" ("Cripples Portfolio"). His work retained a certain dour absurdism after he adopted a figurative constructivist style influenced by the Russians Vladimir Tatlin and El Lissitzky and by the Dutch movement De Stijl. His paintings feature generic-looking figures, presented in strict profile or in stiffly frontal poses.

In 1929 he began publication of "a-z", a journal of progressive artists. He was among the many German artists whose works were condemned as degenerate art when the Nazis took power in 1933. He died in Cologne in 1936.

References

* Heinrich Hoerle. Leben und Werk 1895-1936 (Ausstellungskatalog Kölnischer Kunstverein), Köln 1981
* 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