Kuhn, Erich

Painter, Sculptor

born: 31.07.1890 in Berlin

died: 12.02.1967 in Höchst am Main

From 1908-11 Kuhn studied under the painter Karl Köpping at the Royal Academy of Arts in Berlin; in 1912 he was a student of Lovis Corinth. From 1915-18 he was a field artilleryman on the Western Front.

After a serious combat gas injury, he recovered on the Feldberg in the Black Forest in 1919-26 and turned to woodcarving as a self-taught artist thanks to fruitful contacts with artisans in Bernau, Furtwangen and Villingen in the Black Forest. In 1924, he spent time in Rome and Florence. Wood remained the preferred material for his sculptures, but he also worked with other materials such as stone and stainless steel. From 1926-43 he worked as a freelance sculptor in Düsseldorf and as a teacher at the art academy; he was also a member of the "Rheinische Sezession". In 1932/33 he visited the Sunda Islands of Timor, Bali, Java and Sumatra.

From 1943 to 1949, he lived and worked as a freelance artist in Hinterzarten in the Black Forest before moving to Wiesbaden, where he was head of the sculpture and ceramics department at the Werkkunstschule Wiesbaden until his retirement in 1956. In Wiesbaden, Kuhn created numerous fountains, reliefs and sculptures for public spaces. He was a member of the "Neue Darmstädter Sezession". In 1950, he wrote the essay "Thoughts on working on wooden sculptures".

Kuhn died in a car accident near Höchst am Main.