* 18 February 1910 in Breslau; † 17 April 1998 in Rummelsberg near Nuremberg
 
German painter
 
Gerhart Hein’s artistic talent was discovered by the former “Brücke“ artist Otto Mueller, who was a professor at the Breslau Academy of Art. In 1929 Mueller enabled Hein to transfer immediately from the School of Applied Arts to the city’s Academy of Art. There Hein studied under Mueller and other renowned artists such as Alexander Kanoldt, Oskar Moll, Carlo Mense, Oskar Schlemmer, and Johannes Molzahn.
 
After the academy closed in 1932, Hein attended Johannes Molzahn’s master studio. From 1933 to 1939 he lived and worked in the Giant Mountains (Riesengebirge). The National Socialists confiscated one of his works from the Schlossmuseum in Breslau, classified it as “degenerate,” and most likely destroyed it. Like many of his contemporaries from the academy, Hein’s working conditions as an artist were severely restricted during this period. In 1947 he returned from British captivity as a prisoner of war.
 
In the mid-1950s the artist dissolved figuration in his work. Forms inspired by Cubism gradually developed into abstract structures of geometric lines that frame areas of color. Hein referred to these structures as “imaginary substance.” Although the placements in his paintings appear spontaneous, they follow a deliberate understanding of color and form through which the artist imbues everything with an individual sense of meaning.
 
During his lifetime, Hein refused to exhibit his work. As a result, a major retrospective planned by the Museum Ostdeutsche Galerie in Regensburg in 1988 could not be realized. The reception of Gerhart Hein’s work began in 2006 with presentations in Bayreuth, Solingen, Hamburg, Regensburg, Munich, and Berlin.