Fritz Schaefler

The German painter and graphic artist Fritz Schaefler (1888–1954), associated with Expressionism, was born in Eschau, in the Spessart, and died in Cologne. His training in Munich began in 1905 with studies in architecture at the Technische Hochschule; he subsequently attended the School of Applied Arts and, from 1908, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied under Angelo Jank. Between 1915 and 1917, his works were shown at the Munich and Berlin Secessions, as well as at the Thannhauser Gallery in Munich.

During the First World War, he assembled an extensive war diary comprising drawings and watercolours. From 1917, he also produced woodcuts and etchings in an Expressionist manner. During his time at Chiemsee, landscapes and figures became the subjects of a substantial body of watercolours and egg temperas. After settling in Cologne with his family in 1927, Schaefler received public, religious and private commissions, particularly from architects and collectors. In 1929–1930, he also undertook colour-design work for hospitals and for the International Hygiene Exhibition in Dresden. In 1937, works by the artist were seized and then destroyed as part of the Nazi campaign known as “Entartete Kunst”.

The diversity of his techniques is also documented by the work “Erntende. Verso: Kreuzigung”, dated to around 1925 in the description of the work: watercolour and coloured chalk on the recto, black watercolour on the verso, on laid paper. A work entitled “Bergbach” is reported to have belonged to the Heymann Collection in London, where it is said to have entered the collection directly from the artist. Schaefler’s work was the subject of exhibitions devoted to him at the Neue Münchner Galerie in 1972 and the Deutsches Klingenmuseum in Solingen in 1996; the latter was accompanied by a catalogue including a catalogue raisonné. In 1978, he was also featured in the exhibition “Berlin-Paris” at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. Since 2023, his estate, comprising paintings and works on paper from different periods, has been held by VAN HAM Art Estate.

Works recorded at auction

Lempertz · Lot 337

Erntende. Verso: Kreuzigung

Aquarell und Farbkreide bzw

Auction date : 2018-06-01

Published result : 3224 EUR

Including buyer’s premium

Estimate : 3000

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Lempertz · Lot 446

Blauer Abend am Main

Aquarell und Tusche auf festem Zeichenpapier

Auction date : 2017-05-31

Published result : 6200 EUR

Including buyer’s premium

Estimate : 5000

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