Diet Sayler

Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner

Zurich, Museum Haus Konstruktiv (formerly Haus für Konstruktive und Konkrete Kunst), Zufall und konkrete Kunst, 24 June – 21 August 1994
Milan, Lorenzelli Arte SAS, Diet Sayler, 15 January – 28 February 1995
Ludwigshafen, Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Diet Sayler,  20 February – 18 April 1999
Prague, The Czech Museum of Fine Arts, Diet Sayler: Retrospektive, 1999-2000
Cambridge, Kettle’s Yard, University of Cambridge, Diet Sayler, 2000
Bayreuth, Kunstmuseum Bayreuth, Diet Sayler: Malerei lügt nicht, A Retrospective, 27 September – 22 November 2009

Diet Sayler, Nuremberg: Verlag für moderne Kunst, 1999, p.27 illustrated
Lucio Barbera et.al., Diet Sayler - La pittura non mente. Painting does not lie, Messina: Magika Edizioni, p.28 illustrated
L.Ciocarlie et al., Roman Cotosman - Diet Sayler. An Artist Friendship, Bucharest: 418 Contemporary Art Gallery, 2015, p.79 illustrated
J.Barczyńska et al., Diet Sayler - Parlado, Chelm: Muzeum Ziemi Chełmskiej, 2015, p.60 illustrated

Original canvas which is slightly slack on its stretcher. There is a light layer of surface dirt and spots of dirt in places. Unframed.
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One of Romania’s most important post-war abstract artists, Sayler originally trained as a civil engineer, taking art lessons from Julius Podlipny. Early in his career Sayler became associated with Group I.I.I., founded by Roman Cotoșman, Constantin Flondor and Ștefan Bertalan. More a group of young intellectuals than an artist collective, its members shared their political, cultural and social ideas, eventually creating installations and artworks. After organising several underground events, the group participated in the Nürnberg Biennale für Konstruktive Kunst in 1969, which brought the members international recognition. Shortly after the exhibition, MoMA purchased one of Sayler’s works.

Like many artists in Central and Eastern Europe, Sayler was influenced by the Russian avant-garde, particularly the geometric abstraction of suprematism and constructivism. Eschewing Romania’s official doctrine of Socialist Realism, his work developed along the lines of Minimal and Concrete Art. Reaching the limits of free artistic practice in his homeland, Sayler eventually emigrated to Germany in 1973, where he was able to show his works in public for the first time in both group and solo-exhibitions. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, he also worked as a curator, collaborating with artists such as Dan Flavin, Ellsworth Kelly and Jesús Rafael Soto. Sayler’s works are held in several major museum collections, including the Albertina (Vienna), MoMA (New York), the Tate (London), the Neue Galerie (Kassel), and Museu de Arte Moderna (Rio de Janeiro).