Otto Freundlich

Otto Freundlich was a German-French painter and sculptor, born on July 10, 1878, in Stolp, Germany (now Słupsk, Poland). He studied art in Germany and became interested in the avant-garde movements of the time, including Expressionism and Futurism.

In 1911, Freundlich moved to Paris and became friends with artists like Amedeo Modigliani, Piet Mondrian, and Wassily Kandinsky. He was also influenced by the ideas of theosophy and anthroposophy, which explored the spiritual dimensions of existence.

In his art, Freundlich sought to express universal truths and the interconnectedness of all things. He often used abstract shapes and symbols, such as circles, triangles, and crosses, to represent these ideas.

Freundlich's work was included in important exhibitions, such as the Salon des Indépendants and the Salon d'Automne, and he was a founding member of the Abstraction-Création group in 1931.

During World War II, Freundlich was arrested by the Nazis and sent to a concentration camp, where he was killed in 1943. Much of his work was destroyed by the Nazis, but some pieces survive and are now considered important examples of early abstract art.