Karl-Heinz Deutsch, Helmet Head, 2003, Bronze

Karl-Heinz Deutsch (*1940 Karlsruhe), Helmet Head, around 2003. Polished and patinated bronze, 23.5 cm (height) x 25.5 cm (length) x 16 cm (depth), weight 4.9 kg. Monogrammed on the reverse, identified as copy number 4/6, and with the foundry mark "Balzer Pforzheim".

- In mint condition.




- Futuristic Archaism -

The helmet head looks like a relic from the archaic past as well as from the future. The dark areas give the impression of having been sculpted in an original way, showing scratches and abrasions caused by the passage of time, while the elegantly curved polished areas, reminiscent of Brancusi's futuristic sculptures, anticipate a time that has not yet dawned. Unlike Brancusi's more abstract figures, however, the anthropomorphic is the essential element in the helmet head. The back of the head, in particular, is clearly contoured and we can make out the eyes, at least on one side, while the polished, golden shimmering surfaces with the curve that runs from the forehead to the chin and the slit-like indentations around the mouth transform the anthropomorphic into something helmet-like. However, despite the different coloration, it is not possible to distinguish between the head and the helmet; rather, the two merge and diverge, as if we were looking at a prototype of the head that is both helmet and head, coming from both the past and the future. The classical effect of the sculpture comes from this timelessness.
The creative exploration of the head is central to Karl-Heinz Deutsch's artistic work, which is why the helmet head is a very important work in the artist's oeuvre, and one that is very rarely offered as a bronze cast on the art market.


"For years I have been preoccupied with the subject of the head and its many design possibilities. It is the dominant feature of the human body. I reduce the figure and concentrate exclusively on it. It stands for the spiritual in man, which is why it has an infinite expressive power for me. In my search for the "primeval head" I find "helmet heads", "axe heads", "visor heads"...".

Karl-Heinz Deutsch



About the artist

After an apprenticeship as a ceramic modeler, which laid the sculptural foundation for his later work as a sculptor, Karl-Heinz Deutsch studied at the Karlsruhe Art Academy from 1960 to 1965 with Hans Kinderman and Fritz Klemm. Since then, he has worked as a freelance artist, with a focus on sculpture in public space, which includes more than 75 realized art-in-architecture projects. For example, he created a silver-plated Janus head for the Rhineland-Palatinate State Representation in Berlin.
Deutsch has also held various public teaching positions since 1965. In 1988 he was appointed honorary professor at the Rhineland-Palatinate University of Applied Sciences. He was the initiator of the international sculpture symposia in Jockgrim. Since 2001, he has had a studio in the Fronte Lamotte of the fortress of Germersheim. An extensive donation by the artist to the city of Germersheim led to the establishment of a sculpture museum, also located in the Fronte Lamotte, which is based on the donation.
Karl-Heinz Deutsch has received several awards and in 2017 was awarded the German Federal Cross of Merit.