Otto Wild

Otto Wild (* November 8, 1898 in Trostberg, Bavaria; † September 23, 1971) was a German barrel painter and impressionist.

Otto Wild was born in Trostberg, Bavaria, the son of Josefine Margareta Wild. His artistic talent was discovered by the church painter Rauschensteiner from Reith im Winkel, who offered him a state scholarship at the Academy of Fine Arts in Nuremberg under Professor Stöckel. In 1915, Wild was called up for military service and sent to the front in Flanders, where he was discharged in 1916 after being seriously wounded and was able to continue his studies.

In the 1920s, Wild followed in the footsteps of Otto Modersohn to Worpswede, where he developed his passion for landscape painting and his impressionist technique. Trips to Holland, Paris, Venice and Madeira further shaped his unique style. During these years, he created works in which the focus was not on the object itself, but on the light on things.

At the end of the 1920s, Wild gained recognition and set up a studio in the Körnerhaus, Poststrasse 37, in Hamburg. His motifs of the port of Hamburg were in great demand among the city’s merchants and adorned numerous offices and villas. After the Second World War, he continued his work despite unbroken diligence, but the quality of his paintings suffered from a serious illness that prevented him from developing his talent further in the 1950s.