Biografie

1917
Born Karl Friedrich Josef Dahmen in Stolberg near Aachen on 4 November

1931-1933
Attends the School of Arts and Crafts in Aachen, which is banned and dissolved in 1933

1933-1936
Apprenticeship as a commercial artist

1936-1938
Works as a freelance painter and graphic artist

1938-1945
1 April 1938 enlistment in labour service, followed by military service in France and in the Balkan and Russian campaigns, among others. During this time, Dahmen regularly sends drawings for sale to his wife Martha Ursula Hesse, whom he marries in 1940. He also earned some money by painting portraits of officers, which he sent home. After being an American prisoner of war, he and his family moved back to his parents house in Stolberg

1941
Birth of his son Volker

1945
Dahmen successfully applies to the Düsseldorf Academy of Art, but decides not to study as he feels restricted by the teaching methods. From then on, he works as a freelance painter and graphic artist

From 1951
Numerous trips to Paris lead to friendships with artists from the Nouvelle École de Paris, including Louis Nallard, Maria Manton, Wilfrid Moser, Serge Poliakoff, Raoul Ubac and the art critic Karl-Heinz Goerres. Dahmen also forms close friendships with the art critic John Anthony Thwaites, the art critic and painter Rolf-Gunter Dienst as well as Karl Otto Götz

1952
Establishment of the 'New Aachen Group' with Carl Schneider, Franz Josef Herold, Fritz Martin and Engelbert Mainzer
The influences of the informal and abstraction in Paris are echoed in his works

1954-1959
To make a living, Dahmen takes a job as a drawing teacher at a public school in Aachen

1956
He builds a house with a studio on the Donnerberg in Stolberg
The materiality of the works increases significantly and leads to crust- and relief-like surfaces, which are inspired by the Stolberg landscape and open-cast mining and from 1960 lead to the group of works of wall paintings

1957
Member of the Deutscher Künstlerbund Berlin, regularly takes part in exhibitions until 1972

1958
Gold medal at the First International Art Prize for Abstract Art in Switzerland in Lausanne

1959
Becomes a member of the Düsseldorf artists' association "Gruppe 53"
Participates in documenta II in Kassel

1961-1967
Regular stays in Ibiza, where he sets up a second studio and creates the series "Suite Ibiza", which becomes significant for his graphic work

1963
Teaches surface design at the Bremen School of Art
First solo exhibition in New York at the Lefebre Gallery
The first sculptural objects, everyday objects from his immediate surroundings, find their way into his works

1964
International exhibitions in Rotterdam, Pittsburgh, Paris, Madrid, Oslo and Luxembourg

1966
Karl-Ernst-Osthaus-Prize of the city of Hagen for a montage painting from 1965
Member of the Neue Gruppe München and the Westdeutscher Künstlerbund

From 1967
Lecturer for Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich
Moves to Niederham near Pittenhart in Chiemgau
First object boxes are created in Stolberg. From 1969, Dahmen develops these further into the upholstered pictures and tele-landscapes in characteristic green or white colour schemes

1968
Appointment as full professor of painting, object art and graphics at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich

1972
Rolf-Gunter Dienst publishes the first monograph on Dahmen's painterly work, which reveals his regular collaboration with the photographers Robert Häusser and Manuel Schnell. Häusser already took portraits of Dahmen in his studio in Stolberg and produced landscape photographs and stagings. Manuel Schnell mainly documents the works of the Chiemgau period

1974
Study trips to the USA and Mexico

1975
Elected as a full member of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts, Munich

1976
Dahmen begins to compile a catalogue raisonné
Study trip to the USA, primarily to California. Impressions of the landscape are incorporated into the series of furrow paintings created from 1977 onwards

1978
Acquisition and remodelling of a large farmstead in Preinersdorf on Lake Chiemsee

1979
Publication of the catalogue raisonné of prints, edited by Roland Angst

1980
Six-week trip through the USA

1981
Karl Fred Dahmen dies on 12 January at the age of 63 in Preinersdorf am Chiemsee

2003
The catalogue raisonné of his paintings, compiled by Thomas Weber, is published by Volker Dahmen

2013
VAN HAM Art Estate takes over the management of Karl Fred Dahmen's estate

2017
Retrospective at the Museum Küppersmühle für Moderne Kunst in Duisburg as well as at the Leopold-Hoesch-Museum in Düren

1972

Eine erste Monographie über das malerische Werk wird von Rolf-Gunter Dienst herausgegeben, aus der die regelmäßige Zusammenarbeit von Dahmen mit den Fotografen Robert Häusser und Manuel Schnell hervorgeht. Häusser porträtiert Dahmen bereits in Stolberg in seinem Atelier und fertigt Landschaftsaufnahmen und -inszenierungen an. Manuell Schnell dokumentiert vorwiegend die Arbeiten der Chiemgauzeit

1974

Studienreisen in die USA und Mexiko

1975

Wahl zum Ordentlichen Mitglied der Bayerischen Akademie der Schönen Künste, München

1976

Dahmen beginnt mit der Erstellung eines Werkverzeichnisses

Studienreise in die USA, vornehmlich nach Kalifornien. Landschaftseindrücke fließen in die Werkserie der Furchenbilder ein, die ab 1977 entstehen

1978

Erwerb und Umbau eines großen Gehöfts in Preinersdorf am Chiemsee

1979

Das druckgraphische Werkverzeichnis, herausgegeben von Roland Angst, erscheint. Die Werke von 1979 bis 1981 werden handschriftlich von Karl Fred Dahmen in einer Liste im Anschluss an die Nummerierung im Werkverzeichnis festgehalten.

1980

Sechswöchige Reise durch die USA

1981

Karl Fred Dahmen stirbt am 12. Januar im Alter von 63 Jahren in Preinersdorf am Chiemsee

2003

Das Werkverzeichnis des malerischen Werkes, erstellt von Thomas Weber, wird von Volker Dahmen veröffentlicht

2013

VAN HAM Art Estate übernimmt die Betreuung des Nachlasses von Karl Fred Dahmen

2017

Retrospektive im Museum Küppersmühle für Moderne Kunst in Duisburg sowie im Leopold-Hoesch-Museum in Düren