Karl Schmidt-Rottluff  (German, 1884-1976) 

Karl Schmidt-Rottluff (German, 1884–1976) was an Expressionist painter and printmaker, and one of the founders of the Die Brücke group of artists, which included Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (German, 1880–1938), Fritz Bleyl (German, 1880–1966), and Erich Heckel (German, 1883–1970), among others. In the early part of his career, Schmidt-Rottluff regularly spent his summers in Dangast, a town north of Oldenburg, and a number of his works were inspired by this secluded coastal region. In 1911, he moved to Berlin, where he was exposed to the most popular stylistic movements of the international avant-garde, including Cubism, Futurism, and African Tribal Art, all of which inspired his later work. After Die Brücke was dissolved in 1913, Schmidt-Rottluff began to produce woodcuts and wooden sculptures.

In the early 1930s, the artist became a member of the Prussian Academy of Art, but was soon expelled after the Nazis came to power and Expressionism was declared to be a degenerate form of art. After World War II, the artist returned from exile and became a professor at the University of Arts in Berlin-Charlottenburg.

The artist’s works are included in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, NY; the Neue Galerie in New York, NY; and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in Los Angeles, CA.

He died in Berlin in 1976 at the age of 92.