1927 | born in Kaltenbach (CSR) |
1947-54 | studies at the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart |
from 1948 | first group exhibitions |
1950s | first solo exhibitions of his works took place in the 1950s |
1960s | mainly geometric abstractions |
1964 | solo exhibition at the Folkwang Museum in Essen |
1965-67 | construction of the refectory of the University of Sarbrücken according to his plans |
| 1967/68 exhibition in the "Goethe-House", New York, and in the "Weden Gallery", Boston |
1969 | His "Platzmal" on the Kleiner Schlossplatz in Stuttgart becomes famous; international activity: so-called "Stadtraumfarbwege" and "Stadtraumikonographien". |
1955/59/64 | Participation in documenta I, II and III |
1972-79 | Chairman of the German Artists' Association |
1980-92 | Professor at the Academy of Arts in Karlsruhe |
1982 | Cross of Merit 1st Class of the Federal Republic of Germany |
1988 | Honorary senator of the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, honorary member of the German-Czechoslovak Society |
1992-93 | Central square design in Ankara |
1994 | Medal of Merit of the State of Baden-Württemberg |
1995 | Full member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts in Salzburg |
1998 | Citizen's Medal of the State Capital Stuttgart, Grand Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany |
2005 | died in Stuttgart |
The "Raumknoten" and "Raumschichtungen", filigree and multilayered sculptures that have been created since the mid-1950s and define space, form the first autonomous focus in the work of Otto Herbert Hajek. Here, sculpture is connected to space as a core volume; subsequently, the sculptures develop into rhythmic accents in space. The sculpture, preformed in wax, forces in its free, lively, multifaceted growth in bronze casting to the unique.
Since the 1960s, Hajek's structured surface of bronze is replaced by the use of other materials, such as wood or steel, and by more rigorous and smooth forms. In the "color paths" of the 1960s, the coloristic design principle increasingly prevails in the integration of the sculpture into its surrounding space. The eye is guided by color accents, especially in the form of color paths. Initially, the surface still remains structured by the material used; later, color and smooth forms apply more and more signal-like effect through geometric elements.