Erich Seidel

(* August 4, 1895 in Plauen; † April 17, 1984 in Konstanz-Wallhausen)

Was a German painter, draftsman, and sculptor.

Life

Erich Seidel was born in Plauen. From 1910 to 1915, he studied at the Plauen Teachers' College before participating in the First World War from 1915 to 1918. During the war, he documented his impressions and experiences in numerous drawings.

At the same time, he worked as a self-taught painter, draftsman, and sculptor. In 1932, he married the dancer Ilse Dreßler. In 1943, his first solo exhibition took place at the Kühl Gallery in Dresden.

After the end of the Second World War, Seidel worked as a freelance painter in Rabenau from 1945 to 1950. In 1950, he was appointed lecturer for drawing and technology in the fine arts at Humboldt University in Berlin.

Erich Seidel devoted his artistic work primarily to the depiction of people.

Characteristic of Seidel's choice of figures are figures that elude everyday bourgeois life – dancers, actors, poets, theater and museumgoers, or people in park landscapes. His figures are often reduced to an anonymous type, giving them a universal or timeless appearance. In Seidel's depictions of people, gestures and facial expressions are greatly reduced. Instead of a clear expression, only a suggestion remains. The faces of the figures are simplified beyond recognition, and their bodies are often reduced to shadowy representations.

Later, he increasingly turned to oil brush drawing on paper. He greatly diluted the oil paint, creating an ink-like liquid that could be applied quickly and easily, yet retained the luster and characteristics of the glazing technique.