Helmut Dorner was born in the town of Gengenbach in Baden in 1952. Helmut Dorner completed his studies at the Düsseldorf Art Academy between 1976 and 1983. His teacher was no one less than Gerhard Richter.
A few years after his graduation Helmut Dorner followed a call to the State Academy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe. As of 1989 Helmut Dorner was professor there.
The abstract and geometric works by Helmut Dorner, many of them executed on paper, are particularly convincing for their subtle coloring and aesthetic balance. Next to small, pastose and expressive oil painting, he made large, geometrically structured lacquer paintings. Recently Helmut Dorner has also been occupied with plexiglass paintings designed by incidental streams of paint.
In 1997 Helmut Dorner was awarded the Prix Eliette by Karajan. In 2001 Helmut Dorner received the Hans-Thoma-Prize, awarded to him from the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg, which puts him in line with awardees like Otto Dix (1967), Anselm Kiefer (1983), K.R.H. Sonderborg (1989) and Thomas Ruff (2003).
Many international exhibitions deliver proof of Helmut Dorner's high profile, among them the retrospective "Helmut Dorner. Malerei 1988-2005", shown at 'Kunstmuseum Winterthur', at the Josef Albers Museum in Bottrop and the Saarland-Museum in Saarbrücken in 2006. Works by Helmut Dorner are in possession of acclaimed international museums and collections, among them the SMAK Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst in Gent, the ZKM in Karlsruhe, the Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain (MAMCS) in Strasbourg, the Kunsthalle Bern and the CaixaForum Barcelona.
Prof. Helmut Dorner lives and works in Karlsruhe.