From the collected works published by Suhrkamp, we know that the illustrator and author Felix Hartlaub (1913–1945, son of  Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub, the then director of the Mannheimer Kunsthalle and founder of the Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) art movement) created dark, apocalyptic ink drawings as a child, focusing on wounded war veterans. His story of the boy, which he told in 16 drawings about 100 years ago, depicts the imaginary adventures of his alter ego in the world. Employed at the Führer’s headquarters as a contributor to the Wehrmacht’s war diary, he managed to smuggle out his own texts describing his external and internal perceptions of that time. Felix Hartlaub’s short life and his unexplained death in the final days of the war left behind many mysteries.

Daniel Hartlaub and Keith Rodway are currently working on a film about Felix Hartlaub, who went missing in Berlin in 1945, and the Frankfurter KunstSäule featured this film theme in a special collaboration with English artist Keith Rodway. In spring 2025, the two artists already put on a joint exhibition on Felix Hartlaub in England. For the Felix Hartlaub film, his nephew is planning an animated imaginary world, parts of which was shown on the KunstSäule. In Hartlaub’s pictures, Felix Hartlaub’s life oscillates between art, war, and the Nazi regime. The advertising column thus recalled a turbulent time. The parallels to the realities of today’s world seem clear.

Like the exhibition in May at Electro Studios in Hastings, England, this exhibition was also curated by Katrin Kobberger.

At the opening english band Necessary Animals (Keith Rodway/Amanda Thompson) performed The Felix Song and other pieces + CD-Release of Vanished.

The Exhibition was part of the Saisonstart of Frankfurt Art Excperience.

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   Who was Felix Hartlaub?                  About the project
     

VANISHED – THE CURIOUS LIFE AND DEATH OF FELIX HARTLAUB
at Frankfurter KunstSäule, Frankfurt, Germany
Solo exhibition
2025-26
Charcoal on paper/music
Printed Poster Paper (3,60 x 420m).

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