Notable Collectors
Phillip Berman
Mr. Berman, who concentrated his collection on little known artists from Eastern Europe, built a villa with the sole purpose of showcasing the more than 2,000 works of art he has gathered, several of which being from Herbert Seiler.
Sophia Loren
The world RENOWNED italian actress ACQUIRED a chalk and charcoal piece done by Seiler in 1957 for her estate in italy.
Ato Debebe Habde yohannes
A major Ethiopian art collector, founder and managing director of the Addis Ababa Bank collected a number of Seiler pieces.
Steven Cantler
A major Art Collector, & original contributor to the Seiler Legacy Mr. Cantler has the largest single collection of Seiler paintings outside the Seiler family.
During his sixteen years of work at the School of Fine Arts and Design, Seiler produced a huge number of art work both individually and with his students. Many of these works were commissioned by various governmental and private institutions. Seiler's friendship with the then Governor of Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, Ato Teferra Deguefe, gave him the opportunity to create works for the bank's different branches, many of which have survived to this day. Other works by Seiler and his students can still be viewed in the grounds of the School of Fine Arts and Design.
Herbert Seiler with one of his students
School of Fine Arts 1960
This bronze sculpture of Emperor Haile Selassie I was commissioned for the Imperial Bodyguard. Seiler has done three other sculptures of the Emperor in bronze and stone for various public buildings (here, the artist is working on a clay model).
Herbert Seiler's work exhibited at the School of Fine Arts and Design in the 1960s
When Herbert Seiler was still living and working in Austria, he worked as a sculptor in Linz/Upper Austria. Probably one of his earliest works is the fountain below.
One can sense the strength of a wrestler, the wisdom of a contemplative in his matching and contrasting figures. Work without thought can be as meaningless as meditation without action. Herbert Seiler's sense of man's purpose sings through his studies which embody grace notes echoing Moore and Rodin and which are yet compositions unique to the unique man Herbert Seiler is.
Expo 67
Herbert Seiler's contribution to Expo 67 was substantial: He sculptured not only the above-mentioned lions at the access staircase and the four Axum obelisks next to the Pavilion, but also created two Hawiti statues made of fiberglass
Expo 67 The Montreal World's Fair coincided with Canada's 100th anniversary of "Confederation" in 1967 and its one year run attracted 50 million visitors.
Expo 67 was a first-class international exhibition with over 90 foreign, provincial, industrial and "theme" pavilions. Many of them were architectural marvels and attempted to entertain the visitor through movies, products, art, and propaganda.
Ethiopia's pavilion was cone-shaped and colourful, purple and red with golden decorations. It was reminiscent of the ceremonial umbrellas of the priests in the ancient Ethiopian city of Axum. At the head of the access staircase, flanked by lions representing the 13 provinces of the empire, visitors looked down on a replica of St. George's Church at Lalibela. It contained the Crowns of Axum, 1000 silver crosses and other art objects. A replica of the Imperial Throne was also on display.
The pavilion's interior roofing was covered with paintings on canvas that told the history and legends of Ethiopia. Below, exhibits of animals and birds native to the country, exhibits telling about Ethiopia's natural resources, and the work of the country's various artists and artisans were displayed.
The pavilion also featured a bar and cafeteria where visitors enjoyed famed Ethiopian coffee from Harar and other national specialties.