Hans Seiler – Space in Light

Hans Seiler (1907-1986) – Space in Light

Online sale on Drouot.com

from May 19 to June 3

Hans Seiler (1907-1986)
La rue Cénac, 1978
Gouache on paper, signed lower right
31 x 50 cm

Maison Tajan is pleased to present an online sale dedicated to the studio of painter Hans Seiler, to be held on Drouot.com from 19 May to 3 June 2026. Bringing together 55 lots spanning six decades of creative work, this collection offers a rare and exceptionally complete immersion into the world of a still little-known artist whose work today deserves fresh and renewed attention.

A Journey into the Heart of the Second École de Paris

Born in Neuchâtel in 1907, Hans Seiler left Berne at the age of seventeen to study at the École des Beaux-Arts in Lyon, before enrolling in 1927 at the Académie Ranson in Paris, where he became a pupil of Roger Bissière — a guiding figure whose influence would prove decisive for an entire generation. It was in this stimulating environment that he formed lasting ties with Marcel Gromaire, Jean Bazaine, Jean Le Moal, Alfred Manessier and Elvire Jan, all artists who formed the core of the Second École de Paris. From the late 1920s onwards, he exhibited at the Salon de l’Art Français Indépendant, then at the Salon des Indépendants, the Salon d’Automne, the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles, and the FIAC. He pursued a discreet yet consistent career, marked by exhibitions in France — notably at the Galerie Jeanne Bucher on the Boulevard du Montparnasse in 1948, then at the Galerie Roque — and abroad.

Based in Chennevières-sur-Marne, where he established his studio, Seiler built a deeply personal body of work, shaped by extended stays at his house in La Roque-Gageac in the Dordogne, repeated visits to Brittany and Normandy, and more distant travels to the Netherlands and Spain.

Recomposed Space: A Painting of Memory and Light

The singular quality of Hans Seiler lies in the distance he maintained from direct observation. His landscapes are not faithful transcriptions of reality: during his walks, he would gather notes and sketches, which he would then transform in the studio into rigorous compositions where every form is displaced, simplified and reorganised. As he himself confided in 1986: “My preference is for small indications, very lightly marked, which suggest the landscape rather than depict it, and which then leave far greater freedom.“

It is this hard-won freedom that art historian Lydia Harambourg — author of the definitive monograph Hans Seiler et la lumière – 1907–1986 — has so perceptively illuminated: for her, Seiler embodies a distinctive path, faithful to figuration while absorbing the lessons of Cubism and abstraction, in which colour is never an end in itself but, in the artist’s own words, “a means of expression that must suggest a sensation of nature.” Poised between classical values and avant-garde reflection, his work stands as one of the most coherent and compelling trajectories in twentieth-century French painting.

A Complete Panorama: From the Studio to Distant Horizons

The sale offers a remarkably coherent chronological and thematic journey through Seiler’s entire output. The formative years are represented by works from 1933–1934 — Two Nudes, Woman by the Window (Grey and Pink), The Pipe Smoker — which bear witness to the artist’s earliest explorations, still shaped by the combined influences of Cubism and Bissière’s teaching. As early as 1934, Port in Brittany heralds Seiler’s enduring attachment to the Breton coastline, which would continue into his final years with works devoted to Tréboul, Douarnenez and Belle-Île.

Interior scenes represent one of the highlights of the collection. The Window (1947, oil on board), The Yellow Interior (1975, oil on canvas, 54 × 81 cm) and The Small Studio (1977, oil on canvas, 54 × 81 cm) illustrate Seiler’s unique ability to structure domestic space through a subtle interplay of verticals, vibrant colours and shifting light. The Bouquet (1984, oil on canvas, 60.5 × 50 cm) and Flowers on the Table (1975) meanwhile demonstrate his mastery of intimate still life, in which the interior always opens onto a luminous beyond.

The Dordogne — his beloved adopted land — is present throughout the sale: from Châteaux on the Dordogne (1950) and Marqueyssac (1955) to the sweeping panoramic compositions of his mature years — La Roque (1958), View of La Roque (Pink) (1972), The Port of La Roque (1977), and the monumental Dordogne Landscape — The Two Châteaux (1985, oil on canvas, 50 × 100 cm). The fine canvas Threshing (1948, 38 × 54.5 cm) is a reminder that Seiler was as attentive to the rural life around him as he was to the grand landscapes.

Rare Works: Spain and the Netherlands

Among the most precious groups in this sale are the works devoted to travels abroad — exceptionally rare on the market. The Netherlands, discovered in 1951 following a chance encounter on Belle-Île, offered Seiler vast flat landscapes and sweeping, changeable skies that would profoundly enrich his work. The sale presents a particularly rich selection: Amsterdam (1957, oil on canvas, 46 × 55 cm), a sophisticated urban geometric composition in which canals and facades dissolve into coloured planes; Den Waag (1957, oil on canvas, 33 × 41 cm), a view of a Dutch square with recomposed Gothic architecture; Grand Canal in Holland (1957, gouache, 32 × 50 cm) and The Two Windmills and the Two Bridges (1957, panoramic gouache, 24 × 57 cm), all bearing witness to the creative intensity of these stays. To these is added a rare Cathedral of Furnes (Pink) (1965), a Flemish town in Belgium that Seiler reduced to its essential Gothic lines, bathed in a pale rose light.

Later still, the discovery of Spain from 1978 onwards marked a striking turning point in the artist’s palette. The sale brings together an Iberian group of remarkable coherence and absolute rarity on the market: Navarre (1978, oil on canvas, 50 × 100 cm), a vast composition of moving skies in which earth and atmosphere seem to merge; The Cross at Toledo (1979, gouache, 58 × 29 cm) and Toledo (1985, oil on canvas, 59.5 × 72.5 cm) — two visions of the imperial city separated by six years, illustrating the evolution of his gaze towards ever greater simplicity; and Segovia (1982, gouache), a city of golden and pearl-grey tones set in the light of Castile. These Iberian canvases, exhibited at the Galerie Bellint between 1980 and 1986, have for the most part never appeared at public auction and represent one of the major revelations of this collection. The sale also features a rare Venice (1974, oil on canvas, 49.5 × 60.5 cm), in which the artist transposes his geometric language into the reflections and architecture of the Serenissima.

A Rare Opportunity for Collectors

Having long remained on the fringes of the art market, Hans Seiler is currently experiencing a sustained resurgence of interest. This revival is driven by several institutional exhibitions — including the major retrospective at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Vannes in 2021 — and by a fresh reevaluation of 20th-century painting that shines a light on independent paths. This sale offers collectors a rare opportunity to acquire masterful, singular, and still highly accessible works by an artist whose recognition continues to grow.

Exhibition and Lecture

To mark this sale, an exhibition will be held from May 30 to June 2, 2026. It will be preceded by a lecture on Friday, May 29 at 6:00 PM, featuring art historian Lydia Harambourg, author of the definitive book Hans Seiler et la lumière – 1907–1986, and Katy Drieu, the artist’s daughter. This gathering will shed light on Hans Seiler’s journey and provide a deeper understanding of the evolution of his work.

Hans Seiler (1907-1986)
Cathédrale du Nord (Furnes), 1965
Gouache on paper, unsigned
23,5 x 31,5 cm

HANS SEILER – Space in Light

Online Auction from May 19 to June 3, 10am
Exhibition from Saturday, May 30 to the evening of Tuesday, June 2

Conference on the work of Hans Seiler, Friday, May 29 at 6 pm, led by Lydia Harambourg and Cathy Drieu.

Tajan
37 rue des Mathurins
75008 Paris

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