Herbert Seiler: The Story
Born in Budweis Czechoslovakia in 1928, Seiler’s life was quickly interrupted by global conflict & the outbreak of World War II. At age 14 Seiler & his entire school grade were kidnapped by the Nazis & forcibly drafted into the late desperate stages of the war, where he refused to serve the Nazi regime & surrendered to the Soviets.
Seiler escaped from the Soviet Gulag, & went on to finish seven & a half years of formal art school in Austria, attending the “Kunstgewerbeschule” in Linz Austria before three years of “Kunstschule,” where he finished his studies under the world-famous sculptor Pro. Manzu in Salzburg, Austria. After working as a sculptor in Austria, Seiler—equipped only with a backpack, motorcycle, & a passionate hunger for life—embarked on a never-before-documented seven-month journey to Africa, ultimately settling in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Ethiopia afforded him varied and challenging opportunities to practice many art forms. In addition to teaching sculpture at the Fine Arts School in Addis Ababa, he received commissions from Government as well as private organizations and individuals. His works consist of statues, busts, & reliefs in bronze and marble; over-life size lions, murals, & sculptures for public buildings; Government stamps and stage decor. Seiler also worked in his field for two world exhibitions, making all pertinent artwork for the Ethiopian pavilions. During this period, he created hundreds of portraits of the magnificent tribal groups in the country & also did portraits of official visitors and Heads of State. He experimented with, and developed, a new process of utilizing fiberglass in art.
Seiler had many joint and one-man shows in Austria, Washington DC, Hamburg, Berlin, Hong Kong, Paris, and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. His strength lies in his original bronze figures for the collector. His Free Forms in Metal & Fiberglass are the result of the technique he developed. His works extend from the figurative to the semi-abstract; they are untitled, thus leaving the observer the freedom to use his/her imagination
He has travelled extensively in Europe: Austria, Italy, France, Greece, Spain, & Switzerland; the middle East: Lebanon, Hungary, & Turkey; in Africa: Egypt, Kenya, Seychelles, Sudan, Tunisia & Zanzibar; & in the Far East: Japan & Hong Kong. He has also travelled in the USA & Canada.
Political unrest in Ethiopia led him to settle in St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. with his American-born wife and three children.
Seiler on his infamous motorcycle journey from Austria to Ethiopia
Sculpture
By
Seiler
The proper study of mankind is man. The sculptures on the following pages give specific form to the general theme. Working in a variety of media, Herbert Seiler has carved out not only a career as an artist but also a conceptual contemplation of man in his many moods and manners.
Even the limited study of Seiler's work possible in an introductory pamphlet makes clear his interest not only in form and technique, but, perhaps even more significantly, his compulsive concern with life. Most of the work shown in the pages that follow is figurative. But even in his abstract and purely decorative works, Seiler is never far from the strength, the joy, the fears, the laughter of man. But words can only echo what the sculptures of Herbert Seiler have to say. No one really needs to write - or read - very much about the work of Mr. Seiler. All that's really needed - as a beginning - is to start turning the pages…
Work. Strength. Mass. Power. The words could be used to describe both the man and his work. Prolific and productive, he is a teacher of fine arts whose own aesthetic and productive standards give his apprentices a master's level to try to equal. One can sense the strength of a wrestler, the wisdom of a contemplative in these matching, contrasting figures. Work without thought can be as meaningless as meditation without action. Seiler's sense of man's purpose sings through these studies which embody grace notes echoing Moore and Rodin and which are yet compositions unique to the unique man that is Herbert Seiler.
Seiler has proved himself both a survivor of man's inhumanity to man and a surveyor of man's essential humanity. Above all, like many great artists, the survivor, the surveyor, the sculptor has been a worker, producing when others might merely ponder.
Timeline
1928 - Born in Budweis, Czechoslovakia
1934-1940 Seiler becomes known on the streets of Budweis sculpting molds & hearts from soap for all the neighborhood girls
1943 - Herbert Seiler & the majority of his school is kidnapped and forced into youth camps
1945 - Refuses to serve Nazi regime, surrendering to a Soviet army and later escaping from a Soviet Union prison camp
1946 - Formal Education begins at the School of Fine Arts
1950 - Graduates from the School of Fine Arts
1951 - Seiler starts learning from renowned Italian Sculptor Giacomo Manzu
1953 - Formal education ends under Prof. Manzu
1954 - Leaves Austria to embark on motorcycle journey throughout Africa
1956 - Settles in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
1956-85 - Establishes himself & the Seiler name as one of the nation’s most prominent artists
1961 - Marries his wife Marion E Hill
1963 - Has first child & namesake, Herbert Seiler
1965 - Has second child, Christopher Seiler
1967 - Expo67 takes place in Montreal Canada in which Seiler’s contributions were significant
1970 - Has third child, Marie Seiler
1985 - Forced to flee Ethiopia in the wake of the revolution
1985 - Arrives in St. Thomas with his family
1989 - Hebert permanently relocates to Paros, Greece
1990-1996 Seiler’s Work & style showcases an evident shift in muse & meaning
2006 - Seiler is recognized as an honorary citizen of Ethiopia with a ceremony hosted by the Mayor of Addis Ababa
2008 - Tragically takes his own life
Notable
Ethiopia is unique among African countries in terms of the extent to which paintings—rather than sculptures—stand at the center of traditional art. Herbert Seiler’s influence brought newfound attention to sculptors in Ethiopia.
Herbert Seiler developed new fiberglass sculpting techniques in the early ’60s.
Coordinated & artistically directed two World Art Exhibitions in Montreal Canada in 1967 & Osaka Japan during 1970