Karl Hofer was born in 1878 in Karlsruhe, Germany. While he was strongly influenced by the classical idealism of Hans von Marees and Cezanne, his work was expressionist in style, but quite poetic in restraint. He lived in Paris from 1908 to 1913, then he settled in Berlin where he gained most of his success. He was appointed director of the Hochschule Fur Blidende Kunste in Berlin after World War II ended. Hofer was the first German to ever win first prize at the Carnegie International Exhibit, but from his own nation he was forbidden to exhibit in Germany during the Nazi reign.