Born on February 10, 1935 in Düsseldorf, Konrad Klapheck attended higher secondary school for classical languages and literature before studying painting between 1954-58 at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. His teacher there was Bruno Goller, who is best known for symbolically alienated representations of utilitarian objects from everyday life and supported Klapheck's interest in this theme.

Studying Surrealism early on, Klapheck had visited Max Ernst by 1954. He spent five months in Paris in 1956-57 and from 1961 maintained close ties with the Paris Surrealists around André Breton. In 1955, when Informel was at its height in Germany, Klapheck painted 'Schreibmaschine' ['Typewriter'], in which a typewriter i...