Born in Przemysl, Poland, in 1902, Karl Duldig moved to Vienna with his family in 1913. In his youth he was an outstanding sportsman, won the Austrian table-tennis championship, played international soccer, and was a highly ranked tennis player. In 1921, he became a student at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna where he worked for three years under the noted Austrian sculptor Anton Hanak.

His work was chosen to represent the institute in major national and international exhibitions. In 1926 he became a student at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, and from 1929 to 1933 he was a member of the Academy’s prestigious Master School in Sculpture under Professor Josef Mullner. After his graduation he shared a studio with Dr Arthur Fleischmann, worked on private commissions, and exhibited in the Kunstlerhaus and the Secession.

Together with his wife Slawa, and baby daughter Eva, Karl left Austria in 1938. After a short period in Switzerland the family arrived in Singapore in 1939. There, Duldig completed major commissions for the Sultan of Johor and Aw Boon Haw, the Tiger Balm King. The eminent author and historian Robert Payne was his friend and among his patrons. The Duldigs were evacuated to Australia in 1940.

Karl Duldig’s professional achievements in Australia spanned many facets of the arts. He was Director of Art at Mentone Boys Grammar School from 1945 to 1967; founding and Honorary Life President of the Bezalel Fellowship of the Arts; President of the association of Sculptors of Victoria and Honorary Life Member from 1982. In 1956 he won the Victorian Sculptor of the Year Award.