Otto Herbert Hajek was a German artist, known for his work in abstract painting, graphic art, and sculpture. He was born on June 27, 1927, in Kaltenbach, Czechoslovakia, and died on April 29, 2005, in Stuttgart. From 1947 to 1954, he studied sculpture at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart under Peter Otto Heim. In 1978, he was awarded the title of professor by the state of Baden-Württemberg, and in 1980, he was appointed head of a sculpture class at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe, where he taught until 1992.
Hajek's artworks were exhibited all over the world, including at documenta II 1959 and documenta III 1964 in Kassel, and were mainly colored sculptures or objects made of steel and concrete, as well as interior and facade designs on buildings. Hajek's early work was still figurative in the tradition of the first half of the 20th century. Beginning in the mid-1950s, he modeled nonrepresentational sculptures called Raumknoten, as well as reliefs he designed for ecclesiastical use.
From the mid-1960s onward, Hajek used geometric forms in color, with which he approached the pictorial language of Concrete Art, though without, like the latter, subordinating his artistic freedom to an impersonal and 'objective' principle of design. This applies just as much to Hajek's small sculptures and graphic works as it does to the monumental city signs, color paths, architectural and square designs that form his main oeuvre.
Hajek has received numerous awards throughout his career, including the Citizen's Medal of the State Capital Stuttgart, Grand Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, and Honorary Citizenship of the City of Prachatitz Czech Republic. He was also the first chairman of the Deutscher Künstlerbund from 1972 to 1979 and was committed to the social security of artists.