Born in 1922 in Guentersberge, Germany, Karl Hagedorn studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. For a number of years, he designed and executed mosaics, murals, and stained glass windows until he immigrated to the United States. Living in St. Paul, Minnesota, he worked as a free-lance artist and taught at Hamline University and the St. Paul Art Center. His first major solo exhibition was at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis with frequent one man and group shows in the US and Europe from then on. From 1973-1998, he lived and worked in New York City, moving with his wife Diana to Philadelphia. He continued to paint and exhibit his work right up to his death in 2005.
Karl grew up on his father’s sawmill in the Harz Mountains of Weimar Republic, surrounded by machinery and products that provided, in his own words, “a kaleidoscope of geometrical planes”, which would later influence his paintings. Even as a child, Karl was fascinated with art, and observing and drawing the shape and design of the objects that surrounded him.Karl had started painting in high school, but his dream of becoming an artist seemed to be escaping him as the Weimar Republic gave away to the Nazi regime, and he was drafted to the German Eastern Front. Even after the war, time and supplies were hard to come by, and Karl’s art took a sideline to helping his father run the sawmill under Russian supervision in post-war East Germany.  Eventually, Karl escaped East Germany, and, at the age of 34, enrolled at the Art Academy in Munich. It was there that he solidified his artistic talents, and began painting murals, creating mosaics, and making stained glass to support himself.
It was on a trip to Paris, though, that Karl came across the modernist movement of Picasso, Leger, Matisse and Miro, and finally found his artistic voice. He worked furiously to develop his style; eventually moving to the United States in 1959 in hopes of supporting himself with his paintings. After working for some time as a commercial artist and art teacher, Karl was noticed by the Director of the Walker Art Center, Martin Friedman, and was given his first one-man show. By 1973, Karl had moved to New York City, and was soon represented by Gimpel and Weitzenhoffer. He found himself incorporated into shows not only in New York, but all over Europe as well. Finally, he was supporting himself with his paintings. In 1981, the Director of the Nuremberg Museum, Curt Heigl, gave Karl an extensive retrospective show. The museum holds a significant number of the artist’s paintings and works on paper.
Solo Exhibitions To 2006
2006 Memorial Exhibition, Boston International Fine Art Show
2006 Memorial Exhibition, Galerie Bode, Nuremberg, Germany
2005 Garrubo-Bazan Gallery, West Chester, Pa.
2004 Galerie Herrmann, Neumarkt, Germany
2003 Garrubo-Bazan Gallery, West Chester, Pa.
2003 Galerie Bode, Nuremberg, Germany
2002 Kunstverein Wernigerode, Wernigerode, Germany
2001 Galerie GEK, Schwaebisch Gmuend, Stuttgart, Germany
2001 Galerie Bode, Nuremberg, Germany
1999 Galerie Goldbach, Stadtallendorf, Germany
1998 Galerie Bode, Nuremberg, Germany
1997 Galerie Bode, Nuremberg, Germany
1996 Galerie Heseler, Munich, Germany
1995 Martin Sumers Gallery, New York, NY
1994 Galerie Rehklau, Augsburg, Germany
1993 Galerie Heseler, Munich, Germany
1992 Virginia Lust Gallery, New York, NY
1992 Eva Cohon Gallery, Chicago, Ill.
1991 Galerie Heseler, Munich, Germany
1991 Galerie Stolz, Cologne, Germany
1991 Villa Dessauer, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Bamberg, Germany
1989 Consulate General of Germany, New York, NY
1987 Galerie Rehklau, Augsburg, Germany
1985 Kaiser Galerie, Nuremberg, Germany
1984 Galerie Heseler, Munich, Germany
1984 Galerie Rehklau, Augsburg, Germany
1983 Baukunst Galerie, Cologne, Germany
1983 Galerie Brusberg, Hannover, Germany
1982 Galerie Heseler, Munich, Germany
1981 Kunsthalle Nuernberg, Nuremberg, Germany
1981 Jack Gallery, New York, NY
1981 Galerie Rehklau, Augsburg, Germany
1980 Monahan Gallery, Milwaukee, Wis.
1979 Goethe Institute, New York, NY
1979 Gimpel and Weitzenhoffer, New York, NY
1978 Galerie Rehklau, Augsburg, Germany
1976 Gimpel and Weitzenhoffer, New York, NY
1974 Galleria Galatea, Milano, Italy
1973 Galerie Heseler, Munich, Germany
1971 Hamline University, St. Paul, Minn.
1971 Martin Gallery, Minneapolis, Minn.
1970 Gallery / University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn.
1970 Minnesota Museum, St. Paul, Minn.
1970 Martin Gallery, Minneapolis, Minn.
1969 Martin Gallery, Minneapolis, Minn.
1968 Carlton College, Northfield, Minn.
1967 Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, Minn.
1967 Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minn.
 
A Selection of Group Shows
2003 International Elements of Geometry, Minnesota University, Marshall, Minn.
2000 International Artists Exhibition, Aras Galerie, Ravensburg, Germany
2000 Newman Gallery, Philadelphia, Pa.
1995 Works on Paper, Amory Show, New York, NY
1994 Works on Paper, Amory, New York, NY
1993 International Print Fair, Armory Show, New York, NY
1990 Basel Art Fair, Basel, Switzerland
1990 Gimpel and Weizenhoffer, New York, NY
(also 1974, 1974, 1977, 1978)
1987 Galerie Stolz, Cologne, Germany
1986 Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany
1984 Cologne Art Fair, Cologne, Germany
1978 Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Ind.
1977 Weyhe Gallery, New York, NY
1977 Galerie die Insel, Munich, Germany
1968 St. Paul Art Center, “Drawing USA,” St. Paul, Minn.
1968 Weatherspoon Gallery, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC
1968 “Art across the USA,” Dayton, Ohio
1967 Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, Minn.
1966 National Academy of Design, New York, NY
1964 Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minn.
 
Selected Collections
 
New York Public Library, Print Collection, New York, NY
Brooklyn Museum, New York, NY
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minn.
Kunsthalle Nuernberg, Nuernberg, Germany
Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, Minn.
Minnesota Museum of Art, St. Paul, Minnesota
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Bamberg, Germany
Deutsches Museum/Strobel Collection, Munich, Germany
Goethe Institute, New York, NY
Hamline Univ ersity, St. Paul, Minn.
University of California, San Francisco, Calif.
University Gallery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
Housatonic Museum of Art, Bridgeport, Conn.
General Electric, Bridgeport, Conn.
Prudential Insurance, New York, NY
Owens-Corning Fiberglass, Toledo, Ohio
Liquid Paper Corporation, Dallas, Texas
Numerous Private Collections in Europe and the United States