Artist of the Day, June 20, 2026 : Franz Sedlacek, an Austrian painter, illustrator, (#2558)

Franz Sedlacek (1891 – 1945) was an Austrian painter who belonged to the tradition known as "New Objectivity" ("neue Sachlichkeit"), an artistic movement similar to Magical Realism. At the end of the Second World War he "disappeared" as a soldier of the Wehrmacht near Toruń, Poland. He was declared missing on February 1, 1945 and pronounced dead in 1972.

Franz Sedlacek was born in Breslau, and moved with his family to Linz in 1897. In 1909 he graduated from the Royal High School at the Fadingerstraße. A year later, he moved to Vienna and studied architecture and chemistry. After serving in World War I, he completed his studies and in 1921 began working at the Technical Museum of Vienna.

In 1913, Sedlacek founded an artistic association in Linz with Anton Lutz, Klemens Brosch and Heinz Bitzan. Sedlacek began as a graphic artist, and later turned to oil painting.

In 1925 he produced a number of watercolours for Claire Annabel Caroline Grant Duff's Book The Unicorn.

In 1927, Sedlacek joined the Viennese Secession, an association of artists that was founded by Gustav Klimt and others in 1897.

In 1930, Sedlacek's work was included in an exhibition of Austrian art at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He was subsequently awarded the Austrian State Prize for painting thrice: in 1933, 1935 and 1937.

© 2026. All content on this blog is protected by international copyright laws All images are copyrighted © by Franz Sedlacek or assignee. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, the use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. All images used for illustrative purposes only

Franz Sedlacek

The Test, 1913

Flower Piece, 1922

Nocturnal Brawl, 1927

Nocturnal Homecoming, 1927

Ghost Over the Trees, 1928

Interrior, 1928

Bavarian Landscape, 1930

The Ship of Fools, 1930

Fanciful Ink Drawing II, 1931

Mountain Landscape with Automobile, 1931

Song in the Twilight, 1931

The Late Night Ghost and the Drunkards, 1931

Winter Landscape with Tower, 1931

Moulage Studio, 1932

The Chemist, (self-portrait), 1932

Double Heads, 1933

Ghosts on a Tree, 1933

Ghost with a Butcher Knife, 1934

Industrial Landscape, 1934

Flowers and Insects, 1935

The Sad Family, 1935

Imaginary Heads, Study, 1936

The Moon Calf, 1936

Evening Song, 1938

The Library, 1938

The Mill of Rejuvenation, 1938

The Resurrection of the Flesh (Sheet 1) 1938

The Road, 1939