Hans Hartung was born in Leipzig, Germany in 1904. He studied first to the Akademie der schönen Künste of the same city (1924-1926), then studied to the Fine Art of Munich. His first exhibition was organized in 1931. He left Germany in 1932, travelled in Europe, then settled down in Paris in 1935.

He painted then watercolours and abstract canvases. In 1944, Hans Hartung joined the Foreign Legion; he got injured and his right leg was amputated. In 1945, he got the french naturalization. The artist thought that only the “tachisme” could say the despair of the horrors of the war. Hans Hartung got the first price of “la Biennale de Venise” in 1960. At that time, Hartung began to paint acrylic on big formats, alternately struck or scratched by fast touches.

He stigmatized his painting by means of brooms, combs and branches. The artist made every effort with his work to fix the dynamism and the constancy of the forces which create the material, the light and the spirit. Hans Hartung died in 1989 in Antibes, France.