The German graphic artist, sculptor and humanist Otto Pankok counts among the most important representatives of an expressive Realism.
Otto Pankok, who was part of the avant-garde movement "Jungen Rheinland" [Young Rhineland], always had an attentive look on the situation of the oppressed ones, those people living on the edge of society. This is omnipresent in his works that always deal with marginal groups such as Sinti and Roma. Additionally, he made landscapes, paintings of animals and flowers as well as artist portraits. In terms of his style, an expressive use of color and line identifies the art of Otto Pankok, but yet, he always stayed very close to reality, just as his idol Vincent van Gogh. The oeuvre of Otto Pankok comprises large-sized woodcuts and woodcuts in colors, etchings, charcoal drawings, lithographs and stonecuts, after 1945 his works became a little lighter. As of the 1930s Otto Pankok also made sculptures.
The Otto-Pankok-Society, founded in 1968, as well as two Otto Pankok museums are proof of the enormous recognition of the great artist and humanist.