Joachim Karsch
German, 1897 – 1945
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Joachim Karsch was a sculptor and graphic artist, who practiced Post-Expressionism. He grew up as an orphan and studied at the School of Applied Arts in Wrocław from 1911-14, then in Berlin. Because of a disability, he retired before World War I. By the mid-1930s Karsch was financially ruined. Nevertheless he won the bronze medal with his Drawing Stabwechsel (Changeover) at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics in the category Paintings, Graphic Works.
In 1942 Karsch received a lucrative commission from the city of Gdynia (in German Gdingen/Gotenhafen). One year later his Berlin studio was completely destroyed by a bomb attack. After the Russian Army occupied his residence Groß Gandern in February 1945, destroying his works, he and his wife, Liesbeth, committed joint suicide to avoid deportation.
