Lot 99: Karl May (German, 1900-1976) Seated Figure, Oil on board,

Karl May (German, 1900-1976)
Seated Figure,
Oil on board,
Signed lower left.
h:24 w:12 in.

Other Notes: Artist Biography.

Karl May was born in Bohemia in 1901, and studied at the academies in Vienna and Prague. His extensive travels throughout the Middle East and Europe led to his association with the celebrated artists of Bruke and Blaue Reiter groups in Germany. By 1926 he had been appointed professor at the Prague Academy and he won the coveted Rome Prize.
World War II interrupted his professional and personal life and many of his paintings were confiscated as "degenerate art" and later burned in Berlin together with works by Klee, Nolde, Kirchner, Beckman, and others.
After the war he spent several years teaching in Teheran and served as artistic advisor for the foundation of the Iranian Academy. He emigrated to Canada in 1952, settling in the Laurentians, north of Montreal. He continued to teach, paint and travel until his death in 1976.