Herbert Siebner
(Canadian, 1925–2003)
The Leaf, 1956
Oil and tempera on canvas on board
Dimensions: 34 × 57 in. (86.4 × 144.8 cm)
Inscriptions: Signed lower center; inscribed on reverse
Exhibition History
Historic & Post-War Canadian Art, Madrona Gallery, Victoria, BC (2019)
Executed in 1956, The Leaf stands as a rare, exhibition-scale masterpiece from Herbert Siebner’s pivotal early period in Canada. Emigrating from Germany to Victoria in 1954, Siebner quickly emerged as a transformative force in West Coast modernism. 1956 marked his national breakthrough—the same year he received the Canadian National Award in Graphic Arts—establishing his reputation as a primary architect of mid-century Canadian abstraction.
Rooted in his post-WWII studies at the Berlin Academy under Max Kaus and Ernst Schumacher, The Leaf fuses German Expressionism with West Coast mythic symbolism. Across a expansive horizontal field measuring nearly five feet in width, Siebner constructs a dense, rhythmic matrix of mask-like figures and totem motifs. Bound by bold black contours and rendered in a grounded palette of ochre, slate grey, mustard, and bone, the canvas employs rich impasto and incised lines to create a compressed spatial architecture.
While much of Siebner’s output comprised intimate panels, The Leaf represents a monumental, complex multi-figure narrative created at the height of his early creative momentum. Works of this scale and period are foundational to the story of West Coast postwar art.
Winner of the Canadian National Award in Graphic Arts (1956).
Recipient of the Canada Council Senior Arts Fellowship (1962).
Founding member of The Limners (1971), Victoria’s seminal artists' collective.
Full member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA).
National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa, ON)
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (Victoria, BC)
Vancouver Art Gallery (Vancouver, BC)
Royal Ontario Museum / ROM (Toronto, ON)
Seattle Art Museum (Seattle, WA)
City of Berlin Collection (Berlin, Germany)
Herbert Siebner
(Canadian, 1925–2003)
The Leaf, 1956
Oil and tempera on canvas on board
Dimensions: 34 × 57 in. (86.4 × 144.8 cm)
Inscriptions: Signed lower center; inscribed on reverse
Exhibition History
Historic & Post-War Canadian Art, Madrona Gallery, Victoria, BC (2019)
Executed in 1956, The Leaf stands as a rare, exhibition-scale masterpiece from Herbert Siebner’s pivotal early period in Canada. Emigrating from Germany to Victoria in 1954, Siebner quickly emerged as a transformative force in West Coast modernism. 1956 marked his national breakthrough—the same year he received the Canadian National Award in Graphic Arts—establishing his reputation as a primary architect of mid-century Canadian abstraction.
Rooted in his post-WWII studies at the Berlin Academy under Max Kaus and Ernst Schumacher, The Leaf fuses German Expressionism with West Coast mythic symbolism. Across a expansive horizontal field measuring nearly five feet in width, Siebner constructs a dense, rhythmic matrix of mask-like figures and totem motifs. Bound by bold black contours and rendered in a grounded palette of ochre, slate grey, mustard, and bone, the canvas employs rich impasto and incised lines to create a compressed spatial architecture.
While much of Siebner’s output comprised intimate panels, The Leaf represents a monumental, complex multi-figure narrative created at the height of his early creative momentum. Works of this scale and period are foundational to the story of West Coast postwar art.
Winner of the Canadian National Award in Graphic Arts (1956).
Recipient of the Canada Council Senior Arts Fellowship (1962).
Founding member of The Limners (1971), Victoria’s seminal artists' collective.
Full member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA).
National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa, ON)
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (Victoria, BC)
Vancouver Art Gallery (Vancouver, BC)
Royal Ontario Museum / ROM (Toronto, ON)
Seattle Art Museum (Seattle, WA)
City of Berlin Collection (Berlin, Germany)
