Karl Hauk

Karl Hauk (1898 – 1974) belongs to a generation that lived through the ordeal of two world wars and many disruptions. The oeuvre he has left behind is large and stylistically diverse, ranging from New Objectivity to Expressionism. Themes are predominantly realised in a figurative, scenic style and address in a spirit of social criticism working-class life, religious motifs, or the manifold aspects of love.

As the first director and, later, head of the Master Class in Painting at the Kunstschule der Stadt Linz, he played a significant role in the training of Upper Austria’s first post-war generation of art students. Karl Hauk was awarded a great number of commissions of art in public spaces, such as the clock for the Linzer Tabakfabrik in 1932 and a mural for the conference hall of the Medical Chamber in 1957. Many of these works of art in public spaces were destroyed in World War II, such as the murals in the Labour Chamber (1929) and the frescoes in the Great Hall of the main railway station (1927).

The exhibition at the Lentos documents Karl Hauk’s multifaceted oeuvre.

Curator: Andreas Strohhammer