Fritz Schaefler - Expression and Color | Art Store

VAN HAM Art Estate presents "Fritz Schaefler - Expression and Color"

From 20 March to 14 April 2025, VAN HAM Art Estate presents the exhibition “Fritz Schaefler - Expression and Color”, curated by Dr. Renate Goldmann, as part of this year's art Kuratorenpreis. This catalog presents the carefully curated selection of paintings, works on paper and glass works on view and for sale during the exhibition.

Since 2023, VAN HAM Art Estate has represented a significant position of Expressionism with the artistic estate of Fritz Schaefler and at the same time provides a further basis for research into Rhenish art of the interwar period. Further information on the VAN HAM Art Estate can be found on the official homepage.

Fritz Schaefler (1888-1954) is one of the most important German painters and graphic artists of the 20th century, known above all for his contribution to the Expressionist art movement. Stylistically, his oeuvre is characterized by powerful, often dynamic brushstrokes and intense colours. Schaefler took a critical look at the social and political developments of his time. His artistic versatility is reflected in a wide range of subjects, from portraits and landscapes to socially critical depictions.

In his early phase of work, Fritz Schaefler created numerous paintings in a late Impressionist-naturalistic style, which were shown at the Berlin and Munich Secessions in 1915/16.

In the course of his war experiences, he created dramatic expressionist prints containing apocalyptic and religious motifs. Schaefler also documented the most important personalities of the Soviet Republic in graphic portraits. Many artist friendships also date from this period, such as with Georg Schrimpf, Paul Klee, Erich Heckel and Heinrich Maria Davringhausen.

His move to Prien am Chiemsee in 1920 was followed by a phase of Expressionist landscape and figure paintings in a highly animated and colorful style. At this time, Schaefler met the Cologne textile manufacturer Joseph Heymann (1887-1954) through Kurt Gerstenberg, who became his main collector and also influenced his move to Cologne in 1927.

New friendships developed in the lively Cologne art scene, such as with the “Cologne Progressives” around Heinrich Hoerle and Franz Wilhelm Seiwert.  He takes over Davringhausen's apartment and studio in Cologne-Bickendorf, the new housing estate of Wilhelm Riphahn, for whom he also works as a color designer. At the same time, he received numerous public commissions, including for stained glass windows and murals. The themes of his works, now more firmly defined, expanded to include pictures of city views and of urban life itself. During the National Socialist era, Schaefler's works were confiscated from museums and shown in the “Degenerate Art” exhibition. After the end of the war, he lived in seclusion in Cologne, where he died in 1954.

Exhibition
“Fritz Schaefler - Expression and Color”, curated by Dr. Renate Goldmann on the occasion of the award of the art curator prize

Exhibition duration
March 20 to April 14, 2025

Vernissage
20 March 2025 at 6 pm with an introduction by
Adam C. Oellers, art expert Aachen/Lontzen
and
Dr. Renate Goldmann, Director VAN HAM Art Estate

Exhibition venue:
Van Ham Kunstauktionen
Hitzelerstraße 2
50968 Cologne

Opening Hours
Mon - Fri 10 am - 5 pm, Sat 10 am - 1 pm

For more information on VAN HAM Art Estate, please visit the official Homepage.

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For more information on the artist, please visit Fritz Schaefler's official homepage:

Fritz Schaefler