Diet Sayler
- 1939: Born in Timisoara, Romania.
- 1956 – 1961: Studies structural engineering at Timisoara Technical University.
- 1973: Emigrates to Germany
- 1980 – 1990: Appointed director of the “konkret” series of international exhibitions in Nuremberg.
- 1988: Director of the Franco-German exhibition
Construction and design Berlin 1988. - 1988: Won the Camille Graeser Prize, Zurich.
- 1989: Participates in the Systematic and Constructive Art Symposium, Madrid.
- 1992 – 2005: Becomes professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, Nuremberg.
- 1994: Ionel Jianou Prize, Davis, California, USA.
1995: Visiting professor at Statens Kunstakademi Oslo, Norway. - 1999-2001: Retrospective exhibitions in Ludwigshafen, Bucharest, Cambridge, Prague and Genoa.
- 2006: Direction of the International Summer Academy Plauen in Vogtland.
- 2018: Awarded the Grand Prize for Culture by the City of Nuremberg
Lives in Nuremberg
Diet Sayler is one of the most important concret artist across Europe.
Contrary to constructivist ideals and minimalist aesthetics that value anonymity, Diet Sayler infuses his work with a subjective, intuitive and random dimension. He is a passionate advocate of chromatic freedom, preferring intermediate nuances to the dictates of primary colors.
From 1956 to 1961, Diet Sayler studied structural engineering at university. At the same time, he studied painting with Julius Podlipny.
In the 1960s, Diet Sayler adopted abstract painting. In 1968, he took part in the “5 Young Artists” exhibition, featuring artists such as Bertalan, Cotosman, Flondor and Molnar. This exhibition introduced abstract-constructive art to Romania, and prompted Diet Sayler to move to Bucharest, enabling him to exhibit internationally.
Diet Sayler was initially influenced by Russian Suprematism and the art of the Russian Revolution. He was influenced by artists such as Brâncuși and Malevich. He also studied the theories of De Stijl and the Bauhaus. Later, he adopted the principle of chance, which would mark all his creations. Eventually, he turned to concrete art, as a mean of opposition to the political reality and socialist doctrine of his time.
Initially known for his vivid colors, his art shifted to black after his arrival in Germany. He then focused on delicate black lines on white canvases. In the late 1980s, Sayler developed a system of basic elements, which became the hallmark of his painting, and eventually reintroduced color into his work.
Cassandra, 2013
Acrylic on canvas
100 x 120 x 4,5
Solo Shows
Galerie Klaus Braun, Stuttgart, Germany
Diet Sayler. Artist Room, 418Gallery, Cetate, Romania
418Gallery in collaboration with Unicredit F1 Space. Bucharest, Romania
Muzeul de Arta Timisoara, Timisoara, Romania
Fugue, Museum of Perception, Graz, Austria
La pittura non mente (Die Malerei lügt nicht).
Fortunaarte, Messina, Italien
Retrospektive
Palais Stutterheim, Erlangen, Deutschland
University Gallery Pilsen, Pilsen, Tschechische Republik
BWA Lublin, Lublin , Polen
Galerie Uwe Sacksofsky, Heidelberg, Deutschland.
Palazzo Ducale, Genua, Italien
2000 : Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, England
The National Museum of Art of Romania, Bukarest, Rumänien.
Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen, Deutschland
Lorenzelli Arte, Mailand, Italien
Vasarely Museum, Budapest, Ungarn
Kunstmuseum von Timisoara, Timisoara, Rumänien
Grundkonzepte, Museum für Konkrete Kunst, Ingolstadt, Deutschland
Galerie Jesse, Bielefeld, Deutschland
Museums Collections
Albertina, Vienna – AT
CAMeC – Centro de Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, La Spezia – IT
Galeria Labirynt, Lublin – PL
Kunstforum Ostdeutsche Galerie, Regensburg – DE
Art Museum Bayreuth, Bayreuth – DE
MAM – Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro – BR
Mie Prefectural Art Museum, Mie-Ken, Tsu City – JP
MoMA – Museum of Modern Art, New York City – USA
Musee de Grenoble, Grenoble – FR
Musées de Montbéliard, Montbéliard – FR
Museum of Concrete Art, Ingolstadt – DE
Museum Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich – CH
Museum im Kulturspeicher, Würzburg – DE
Museum Ritter, Waldenbuch – DE
Muzeul de Arta Timisoara, Timisoara – RO
Muzeum Chelmskie w. Chelmie, Chełm – PL
National Museum of Art of Romania, Bucharest – RO
New Gallery, Museumslandschaft Hessen, Kassel – DE
Neues Museum – State Museum for Art and Design, Nuremberg – DE
Wilhelm Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen – DE
Tate Modern, London – GB
Zacheta, Lublin – PL
Articles
2020: Conversation with Diet Sayler | Antonella Grevers,
2018 : ArtHotShot.com
Auf eigenen Wegen zu internationalem Erfolg | Nürnberger Nachrichten
Grand prix culturel for Diet Sayler | Nordbayern, Back to the future: Artissima promotes art from the 80s and new talent |
2017: The Art Newspaper, Anna Brady
2016: 10 of Europe’s hottest artists | The New European, Anna Brady
2015 : Roman Cotosman – Diet Sayler, O prietenie | Revista Arta, Simona Vilau
Despre arta prietenie, destin | Orizont, Marcel Tolcea
2014: ArtInternational’s Top 7 must-sees
The Istanbul Guide, Nicole O’Rourke
Diet Sayler – Pictura abstract
Bookiseala.ro, Marius Ghilezan
2013: Despre abstractionismul romanesc | Cotidianul Victoria Anghelescu
Biographies:
Parlando | Muzeum Ziemi Chełmskiej, Poland
Group Shows
2023: Winter fairy tale, 418GALLERY, Munich
2022 : Other worlds on paper, 418GALLERY, Munich
Working Group 1972-2022, Esperienza Costruttiva Europea, Fondazione Marcello Morandini, Varese, Italy
Summertime, Galerie Linde, Hollinger, Ladenburg Zurich, Germany
Böhm Collection: Concrete Art from Central Europe, Baroque Castle Königshain, Germany
2021: Worlds on Paper, 418GALLERY, Munich, Germany
Till Augustin & Diet Sayler Radial Art Contemporain, Strasbourg france: 16 positions: konkret
Maison de l’art de Rehau, France
2020 : Artists after eighty. The Final Show, Galerie Linde, Hollinger, Ladenburg
Disruption as part of the deal – Ewerdt Hilgemann & Diet Sayler Parts Project, The Hague, Netherlands
2019: 24 Arguments. Early Encounters in Romanian Neo-Avant-Garde 1969-1971. National Art Museum of Romania, Bucharest, Romania
Konstellation II. 12 positions on concrete art, Kunst Kontor Nürnberg, Nuremberg, Germany
Remembering genéva, Edition MultipleArt, Zurich, Switzerland
Gomringer – Linschinger – Sayler
Museum Modern Art Hünfeld – Collection Jürgen Blum, Hünfeld, Germany
Konkret – Constructif, Galerie Klaus Braun, Stuttgart, Germany
Plato’s Heirs – The Collections of the Kunstmuseum Bayreuth, Bayreuth Art Museum, Germany
2017: Piccoli capolavori dalle collezioni del CAMeC, Centre d’Art Moderne et Contemporain de la Spezia, La Spezia, Italy
Art Encounters, 2nd edition. Life a User’s Manual, Museum of Art Timisoara Romania
Red comes before red, Museum, Ritter, Waldenbuch, Germany
9 years of art – 9 Romanian artists, 418 Gallery, Bucharest, Romania
Znak – Struktura – Zivotni Prostor, Gallery umění Karlovy Vary, Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic
Cu gândul la Paul, National Museum of Fine Arts of Moldova, Chisinau
2016 : Logo – Art with the sign Museum for Concrete Art, Ingolstadt, Germany
[un]erwartet – The art of chance
Stuttgart Art Museum, Germany
L’Art De La Série, Galerie Linde, Hollinger, Ladenburg, Germany
Rhythm and Geometry, Musée, Bertrand, Châteauroux, France
50 years of Hoffmann Edition + Galerie Hoffmann, Friedberg, Germany
2015: [A] SYMMETRY
Zacheta Lublin, Lublin, Poland
Rendez-vous des pays. Peter C. Ruppert Collection, Museum of Cultural Memory, Würzburg, Germany
A square is a square is a square, Ritter Museum, Waldenbuch, Germany
Monocromos, Galería Edurne, Madrid, Spain
vocal and others. Symposium and exhibition, Bayreuth Art Museum, Germany
2014: m as in müller-emil m as in multipleart, House of Art, Zofingen, Switzerland
Uczulenie na Kolor, BWA Lublin, Lublin, Poland
Inspired White, Galerie Linde, Hollinger, Ladenburg, Germany
10 years Hubertus Schoeller Foundation, Leopold Museum, Hoesch, Düren, Germany
Structure & Energy II – The Power of Abstraction, 418 Gallery, Bucharest, Romania
2013: Medhi Moutashar – Diet Sayler, Galerie Linde Hollinger, Ladenburg, Germany
égal inégal égal, Edition Multiple Art, Zurich, Switzerland
Structure & Energy – The need for abstraction, 418 Gallery, Bucharest, Romania
New gallery revisited. Collection + acquisitions documenta, New Gallery Kassel, Germany
2012: Ornamental structures
Pforzheim Art Association, Pforzheim, Germany
Chance as Strategy, Vasarely Museum, Budapest, Hungary
2011: Reopening of the Neue Galerie Kassel, New Gallery, Kassel, Germany
Ornament and Seriality, Vasarely Museum, Budapest, Hungary
Ornamental structures, Saarbrücken Municipal Gallery, Saarbrücken, Germany
De lineas, formas, medidas, color y materia, Galería Edurne, Madrid, Spain
2010: Color and Geometry, Kunsthaus Nürnberg, Germany
Concrete Positions, Galerie Ursula Huber, Basel, Switzerland
Couleur et Géométrie: actualité de l’art construit européen, Musées de Sens, Sens, France
2009: Twentysix Gasoline Stations ed altri libri d’Artista – Una collezione, Museo Regionale di Messina, Messina, Italy
La nouvelle galerie – Entrée en scène au château!, Wilhelmshöhe Palace Museum, Kassel, Germany
Re-connaître, Paksi Képtár, Paks, Hungary
Homage to the Square, Ritter Museum, Waldenbuch, Germany
Puls Fotografii, Zacheta Lublin, Lublin, Poland
L’oblique, un regard sur la géométrie contemporaine, Musée du château des Ducs de, Wurtemberg, Montbéliard, France
Reflections on drawing
BWA Lublin, Lublin, Poland
Spazio Libro d’Artista, Palazzo Manganelli, Catania, Italy
2008: Gmund Symposiums
Regional Gallery of the Upper Austrian Regional Museum, Linz, Austria
Seeing from very near and very far. The Municipal Collection of Erlangen, Glimpses VII – Palais Stutterheim, Erlangen, Germany
Not applicable, Society for Art and Design, Bonn, Germany
2007: Dialogue between generations
Forum Konkrete Kunst, Erfurt, Germany
Arhiva Demarco, Brukenthal National Museum, Sibiu, Romania
Constructivo, Concreto, Reductivo (Construction, Concrete, Reduction), Centro Cultural Isabel de Farnesio, Aranjuez, Spain
2006: Still & Konsequent, Works from the Uwe Obier Collection, Kunstverein Siegen, Germany
Mouvement au carré, Ritter Museum, Waldenbuch, Germany
Master – pupil: Diet Sayler and Tatsushi Kawanabe, Art Gallery, Fürth, Germany
2005: Inaugural exhibition – SQUARE – The Marli, Hoppe-Ritter Collection, Ritter Museum, Waldenbuch, Germany
In a new freshness, New presentation of the collection, Wilhelm Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen, Germany
Argumenta
Atlas Sztuki, Lodz, Poland
Identidades II, Galería Edurne, Madrid, Spain
La boite en valise or “The New World Begins in the Heart of Europe, Nuremberg Academy of Fine Arts, Nuremberg, Germany
Yellow and Gold, Galerie Linde, Hollinge, Ladenburg, Germany
Experiment Konkret: Eugen, Gomringer for his 80th birthday, Museum for Concrete Art, Ingolstadt, Germany
2004: always concrete. The Hubertus Schoeller Foundation
Leopold Hoesch Museum, Düren, Germany
25 years of the Wilhelm Hack Museum – 25 years of collecting, Wilhelm Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen, Germany
The Box in the Suitcase – or The New World in the Heart of Europe, Academy of Fine Arts, Prague, Czech Republic
2003: Art shows what we don’t see. The Municipal Collection of Erlangen Palais Stutterheim, Erlangen, Germany
2002: Segni e contesti, Studio B, 2, Genoa, Italy
2001: Art for Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad State Art Gallery, Kaliningrad, Russia
1999: Constructive art in Europe. Threshold of the Third Millennium, Galerie Emilia Suciu, Ettlingen, Germany
Constructive art in Europe. Seuil du troisième millénaire, Galerie Hors Lieux, Strasbourg, France
La media armonica, Galería Edurne, Madrid, Spain
1998: Michele Festa and Diet Sayler, Society for Art and Design, Bonn, Germany
1997: Arta Concreta, The National Museum of Art of Romania, Bucharest, Romania
1996: Art as a concept
Kunstforum Ostdeutsche Galerie, Regensburg, Germany
1995: Art in Germany 1945-1995, Kunstforum Ostdeutsche Galerie, Regensburg, Germany
Rouge Bleu Bleu Rouge, Kunsthaus am Moritzplatz, Berlin, Germany
Géométrie Di Confine, ORTI SAULI – Galleria d’Arte, Genova, Italy
1994: Konkrete Kunst, Internationaal: Projet 30 x 30, De Vrije Academie, The Hague, Netherlands
1993: From Collection IX, Kunsthalle Nürnberg, Nuremberg, Germany
1992: Time. Fabric. Color
Goethe-Institut Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan
Rupprecht Geiger, Diet Sayler, Günther Uecker, Studio B 2, Genoa, Italy
Chance as principle. Method and system in 20th-century art, Wilhelm Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen, Germany
1991: Vera Röhm – Diet Sayler
Lüdenscheid Municipal Gallery, Germany
Time – Fabric – Color, Gallery NAITO, Nagoya, Japan
1990: Concret Dix
Kunsthalle Nürnberg, Nuremberg, Germany
Vera Röhm – Diet Sayler, Wilhelm Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen, Germany
1988: 4th International Drawing Triennale Wroclaw Awangarda Gallery, Wroclaw, Poland
1987: Christian Meger – Diet Sayler, Museum for Art without Objects, Otterndorf, Germany
Mathematics in the art of the last thirty years, Wilhelm Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen, Germany
1986: De deux carrés, Wilhelm Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen, Germany
1982 : Arteder’82 : Muestra Internacional de Obra Gráfica
Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain
1981: Positions and trends
Kunstverein Nürnberg – Albrecht Dürer Society, Nuremberg, Germany
1979: Karl Prantl – Diet Sayler
Galerie Dr. Luise Krohn, Badenweiler, Germany
1977: Sul Concetto Di Série
Museo civico di Villa Mirabello, Varese, Italy
1973: XIIe Premi Internacional Dibuix Joan Miro, Joan Miró Foundation, Barcelona, Spain
1971: Romanian Art Today
Richard Demarco Gallery, Edinburgh, England