Karl Heinz Essig (* 25. Oktober 1935; † 19. April 2021)
Karl Heinz Essig was born on October 25, 1935, in Rheda-Wiedenbrück and completed his training as an interior designer through a degree program at the Werkkunstschule in Kiel. After graduating, he first worked at a design agency in Hamburg and later spent many years as a freelance furniture designer. Even during his studies and early career, art played a major role in Karl Heinz Essig’s life. He had always engaged with painting before, in the 1990s, he completely gave up his professional career as a designer to devote himself exclusively to his true calling as an artist. While only a few works from his early period have survived, his body of work since the 1990s is relatively complete and extensive. Karl Heinz Essig, however, never became a “producer.” He paints from pure emotion, from an intuition that forbids him from repeating himself without continuing to develop artistically. For years, Essig’s works have steadily gained recognition and significance among the public. Numerous national and international exhibitions in galleries and museums attest to the high artistic potential of his works.
Karl Heinz Essig is first and foremost a painter and draftsman. In his works, he often combines painterly elements—that is, those emphasizing color—with draftsmanlike elements—that is, those emphasizing lines and forms. His body of work also includes graphic works, lithographs, and, particularly, etchings.
What is fascinating about Essig’s work is its uniqueness. While thoroughly grounded in art history, Essig has nevertheless managed to free himself from the influence of his predecessors and find his own distinct form of expression. Unmistakable and defying direct comparison, the oeuvre of the 72-year-old artist stands entirely on its own.
Essig is, as art historian Gerhard Charles Rump writes in an essay, a “multivoiced, polyphonic painter.” His paintings transcend the boundaries of meaning and are rarely grasped at first glance. They require the viewer’s engagement; they offer clues but no unambiguous guidelines for a valid interpretation. They are open-ended works whose aspirations extend far beyond the decorative.
Essig’s visual world is a world full of stories. Boundless and often veiled in small symbols, they open up a multitude of possible interpretations. However, the artist repeatedly uses certain symbols: among them are the bird living in freedom, which peacefully and effortlessly joins figures, animals, and plants, and the “eye flowers”—one of Essig’s fantasy motifs—as naturally vibrant elements of flora and fauna. Nature plays a central role in Essig’s work. Essig’s paintings resonate like hymns of praise to the fascination of the natural world. Especially in his atmospheric landscape paintings, but also in his numerous floral still lifes, there is always a certain sense of reverence and respect, as well as a call for treating nature with respect.
In his figurative compositions, central figures drive the narrative. With a unique, self-assured, and confident brushstroke—whose originality is comparable to that of one of the most gifted artistic geniuses, such as Picasso—Karl Heinz Essig creates not representations of humanity, but rather ethereal apparitions. They have their own right to exist as artistic figures far removed from reality. Thus, in Essig’s paintings, dreamlike elements—imaginatively staged—encounter recurring, meaningful symbols. As a viewer, one always senses a quiet longing in the works, something romantically dreamy. With their subtle, calm color palette, they resemble gentle melodies that are a true joy to listen to: one can surrender to them, let oneself go, lose oneself within them—and find oneself.
An Artist of Subtle Tones
Essig’s art is not spectacular, but subtle. It unfolds slowly, like a poem that you read several times and understand anew each time.
High recognition value
Thanks to its symbols, its use of color, and its unique combination of line and form, his work is instantly recognizable—a rare trait in contemporary art.
Both Emotional and Intellectual
His paintings appeal to both the heart and the mind. They invite you to:
- Reflect
- Feel
- Linger
Why His Art Touches People
Essig’s works have something deeply human about them: they are fragile, open, and searching—yet at the same time clear, calm, and grounded.
They come across as visual diary entries from someone who does not merely depict the world, but penetrates it.
Karl Heinz Essig passed away on April 19, 2021, at his home in St. Vit.