Richard Seewald · 1889–1976
For collectors
Do you own a work by Richard Seewald, or wish to buy or sell one? Here you will find the key points of contact and background – independent and without commercial interest.
Is there a catalogue raisonné?
For the prints, yes: Rolf Jentsch, “Richard Seewald – Das graphische Werk” (1973). For paintings, watercolours and drawings there is no complete catalogue raisonné; many works were never formally catalogued.
How can a work be authenticated?
The first point of contact is the archive of the Fondazione Richard e Uli Seewald in Ronco sopra Ascona. It holds paintings, drawings and prints by Seewald, his library and his literary estate, and answers enquiries from researchers and auction houses. Sketchbooks, diaries and work and exhibition files are kept in the Deutsches Kunstarchiv of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg.
What should I check in the provenance?
In 1937, 163 of Seewald’s works were confiscated as “degenerate” from 23 German museums – mostly prints, but also watercolours and paintings. Some are recorded as destroyed, others as lost. For works with gaps in their history between 1933 and 1945, it is worth checking the confiscation inventory of the Freie Universität Berlin and the Lost Art database.
Which periods and techniques are there?
Seewald began around 1911 with expressionist and fauvist drawings and prints; his first oil paintings date from around 1913. From about 1925 he painted in the clear forms of New Objectivity and Magic Realism – Mediterranean landscapes, animals, still lifes. After 1929 religious subjects and large murals followed, after 1931 Ticino and Greece. He worked in oil, watercolour, drawing, woodcut, linocut and etching, and illustrated dozens of books.
Why are some works so rare?
After his wife’s death in 1967, Seewald burned some 150 of his paintings along with hundreds of sketches and designs. Other works were lost through the 1937 confiscations, and his altarpiece in Ronco sopra Ascona was destroyed by a landslide in 1943.
Where are Seewald’s works traded?
Paintings, watercolours and above all prints by Seewald appear in the art trade and at auction. For price comparisons, use the result archives of the auction houses and price databases. Have provenance and condition documented before you buy.
May I use images of his works?
The image rights belong to the Uli und Richard Seewald-Stiftung. For reproductions, for instance in catalogues or publications, please contact the foundation.
This website is a private homage. It does not deal in art, broker works or issue expert opinions.