Otto Jakob
Born in 1951 Otto Jakob moved from Munich to Karlsruhe in south-west Germany in 1977 to study art under Georg Baselitz, a prominent member of the German art scene. After three years of his apprenticeship he realized that he would never make it as a successful artist. He found himself turning to his childhood interest in gemstones and jewelry. At an early age a neighbor allowed him to study his gem collection and gave him a text book on mineralogy. Otto began to collect his own samples from all ove Germany. Later on a school trip to Rome when he was 17, his girlfriend and he had observed rings being sold by street vendors of twisted wire. He promised to make something similar for her and did so. That girlfriend eventually married Otto. Aged 29 and with no formal training Jakob decided to teach himself how to make jewelry. His work quickly gained the attention of his former mentor Baselitz who purchased some pieces and introduced him to other galleries. In 2008 he exhibited at Tefaf Fine Art and Antique Fair in Maastricht.
