Karl Hugo Schmölz

Geboren 1917 in Weissenhorn, gestorben 1986 in Lahnstein

Archiv-Nr. 19546-20 Opernhaus Wuppertal-Barmen 1956
Pigment print on Hahnemühle Paper
80 x 60 cm, Edition: 3
© Wim Cox, Cologne

Karl Hugo Schmölz

Geboren 1917 in Weissenhorn, gestorben 1986 in Lahnstein

Curriculum Vitae

1917 Born in Weißenhorn / D
1930s Because of his father, the famous architectural photographer Hugo Schmölz (1879-1938) Karl Hugo Schmölz was exposed to photography early on.
He began working with his father and photographed for architects like Adolf Abel, Bruno Paul, Dominikus Böhm, Gottfried Böhm, Wilhelm Riphahn, Rudolf Schwarz, Hans Schilling, Wilhelm Schürmann and others.
Since 1938 After his father’s death in 1938 he carried on the ‘Fotowerkstätte hugo schmölz’ in same tradition.
His private interest in the city of Cologne and its cathedral emerged quite early in his photography.
1946 After his return from military service he began documenting the destroyed city of Cologne with his large format camera. One of few themes he did of his own accord.
1947 Publishment of the pictures of the destroyed cathedral Schmölz made under perilous conditions on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of the cathedral in Hans-Peters-Verlag.
1956 Marriage with Walde Huth (1923-2011) a well known fashion- and advertisement-photographer
Since 1958 They work together in the studio Schmölz & Huth
1950s/1960s In his later years Karl Hugo Schmölz began to work more and more for advertising jobs, for which he not only photographed but also worked as concept-developer. Beside the advertising he focused on furniture photography.
With Walde Huth, a fashion and advertising photographer, he married a congenius partner in work and private life.
Today his archive contains the most extensive documentary of post-war-living-culture in Germany, including the designs of Interlübke up to Thomé or Draenert.
Since 1949 He worked for big associations of furniture companies in his own large studio with up to twenty employees.
He knew in a perfect way to arrange even simple furniture to look like cultivated living in the spirit of that time.
1986 Died in Lahnstein / D

Grants and awards

Ausstellungen (Auswahl)

2019 Hugo Schmölz / Karl Hugo Schmölz, ESSENZ DER ARCHITEKTURFOTOGRAFIE 1935 - 1958, Van der Grinten Galerie, Köln / DE
2017 FRAGMENTE DER MODERNE, 
Karl Hugo Schmölz zum 100sten Geburtstag, Van der Grinten Galerie, Köln / DE
WORK & LEISURE, ART COLLECTION DEUTSCHE BÖRSE, curated by Anne-Marie Beckmann, Sebastian Knoll and Annekathrin Müller kuratiert, Deutsche Börse AG, The Cube, Eschborn/ DE
2016 Karl Hugo Schmölz - KÜHLE FORM, 30 Vintages der 50er Jahre, Van der Grinten Galerie, Köln / DE
2014 Karl Hugo Schmölz, FUNKHAUS Köln 1952, Van der Grinten Galerie, Köln / DE
2012 Wie sich Deutschland neu erfand - Fotografien von Karl Hugo Schmölz. Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Bonn / DE
Karl Hugo Schmölz - DIE STADT ALS BÜHNE, Van der Grinten Galerie, Köln / DE
Concrete: Fotografie und Architektur, curated by Thomas Seelig & Urs Stahel, Winterthur / CH
2011 Inside Out, Photography After Form, Selections from the Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Collection, CIFO Art Space, Miami / USA
2007 Stadt-Bild-Köln, SK Stiftung Fotografische Sammlung, Köln / DE
2006 LIEBE ZUM LICHT, Städtische Galerie Delmenhorst / Museum Celle / Museum Bochum / DE
LEUCHTENDE BAUTEN, Archtektur der Nacht, Kunstmuseum Stuttgart / DE
2004 RELATING TO PHOTOGRAPHY, Fotografie Forum International, Frankfurt / Main / DE

Group Exhibitions (selected)

2018 Hugo Schmölz & Karl Hugo Schmölz, Cinemas, published by Van der Grinten Galerie, Verlag Kettler, Dortmund
Stoffwechsel, Die Ruhrchemie in der Fotografie, Ludwiggalerie Oberhausen
To be continued, The Cube/Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation, Eschborn
Doing the document, Die Schenkung Bartenbach, Museum Ludwig Köln und Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Köln
Lichtempfindlich 2, Schauwerk Sammlung Schauffler Sindelfingen und Kehrer Verlag, Heidelberg
2017 Work & Leisure, The Cube/Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation, Eschborn
2015 XL Photography 5, Sammlung der Deutschen Börse, Kehrer Verlag, Heidelberg
2014 Beyond Architecure, Neuer Aachener Kunstverein
Karl Hugo Schmölz: Funkhaus Köln 1952, Hrsg. Konrad Adenauer & Franz van der Grinten, Stefan Schülke Fine Books, Köln
2013 Concrete: Fotografie und Architektur, Hrsg. Daniela Janser, Thomas Seelig, Urs Stahel, Fotomuseum Winterthur
2012 Wie sich Deutschland neu erfand, Fotografien von Karl Hugo Schmölz, Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn
Karl Hugo Schmölz: Architekturfotografien der Fünfziger Jahre, Hrsg. Franz van der Grinten, Schirmer/Mosel, München
2011 Apocalypses, La Disparition des Villes, Alain Sayag, la Ville de Montpelllier/Paris
2010 Inside out: Photography after Form, Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, Miami 2010
Richard Neutra in Europe, Hrsg. Roland Nachtigäller, MARTa Herford/ Schweizerisches Architekturmuseum Basel 2010
2007 Stadt-Bild-Köln, SK Stiftung Fotografische Sammlung, Köln 2007
Liebe zum Licht, Städtische Galerie Delmenhorst/Museum Celle/ Museum Bochum
2006 Leuchtende Bauten: Architektur der Nacht, Kunstmuseum Stuttgart & Hatje Cantz Verlag, Ostfildern
2004 Relating to Photography, Fotografie Forum International, Frankfurt/M 2004
1987 Architecture Transformed, The Architectural League of New York & MIT Cambridge 1987
1986 Sammlung Photographie, Bestandskatalog Museum Ludwig Köln 1986
1985 Aus den Trümmern, Kunst und Kultur im Rheinland und in Westfalen, 1945–1952, Neubeginn und Kontinuität, exh. cat. Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn
1982 Hugo Schmölz: Fotografierte Architektur 1924-1937, Hrsg. Karl Hugo Schmölz & Rolf Sachsse, Mahnert-Lueg, München
1952 Der Siegburger Servatiusschatz, publ. Hans Peters, Düsseldorf
1948 Der Dom zu Köln 1248-1948, Hans Peters, Düsseldorf
1939 Köln, Antlitz einer großen Stadt, publ. Hans Peters, Düsseldorf