HAP Grieshaber (German, 1909–1981), or Helmut Andreas Paul Grieshaber, was an artist known for his large-format woodcuts. Born in southern Germany, Grieshaber apprenticed as a printer and typesetter before studying calligraphy at the Staatliche Buchgewerbeschule in Stuttgart. Between 1931 and 1933, the artist lived abroad, in London, Paris, Egypt, and Greece, working as an illustrator and graphic artist for Vogue and other magazines. He also organized exhibitions of his works, and published the cultural journal Deutsche Zeitung in Athens.

Around the same time, the artist began experimenting with woodcutting, including Reutlinger Drucke, a technique strongly influenced by medieval woodcutting, characterized by thin black and white lines, in the style of Hans Holbein and Albrecht Dürer. After being banned from painting and exhibiting, following the rise of the Nazi party, Grieshaber continued to show his works in secret. He reluctantly joined the army in 1940, and was captured by the Belgians in 1945. After returning to Germany, Grieshaber turned his attention to creating large-scale woodcuts and posters. He was later offered a teaching position at the Bernsteinschule near Sulz am Neckar, and other teaching positions followed, at the Akademie in Karlsruhe as Erich Heckel’s successor, and at the Akademie der Künste in Berlin.

His prints began to incorporate more color, as well as elements from nature and mythology, and were often reminiscent of the works of Marc Chagall.

In 1960, Grieshaber resigned from teaching in protest against examination regulations. The artist spent the next two years working for the journal Labyrinth, alongside well-known writers Walter Warnach and Heinrich Böll. In 1964, he founded and co-published the political magazine Engel der Geschichte, which dealt with current events and social issues. He also created artworks for public spaces, including wooden reliefs, mosaics, murals, and stained-glass windows.

Grieshaber was the recipient of numerous awards and retrospectives throughout his career. He exhibited works at documenta in 1959 and 1964, and was elected a correspondence member of the Akademie der Künste in East Berlin in 1978.

Grieshaber died in Eningen unter Achalm at the age of 72.