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.
Franz Sedlacek was born in Breslau on 21 January 1891, 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 1923, Sedlacek married Maria Albrecht. The couple raised two daughters.
In 1913, Sedlacek founded an artistic association in Linz with Anton Lutz, Klemens Brosch, Franz Bitzan, 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.
At the end of the Second World War he “disappeared” as a soldier of the Wehrmacht somewhere in Poland.
Magical realism, magic realism, or marvelous realism is a genre of narrative fiction and, more broadly, art (literature, painting, film, theatre, etc.) that, while encompassing a range of subtly different concepts, expresses a primarily realistic view of the real world while also adding or revealing magical elements. It is sometimes called fabulism, in reference to the conventions of fables, myths, and allegory. “Magical realism”, perhaps the most common term, often refers to fiction and literature in particular, with magic or the supernatural presented in an otherwise real-world or mundane setting.
The terms are broadly descriptive rather than critically rigorous. Matthew Strecher defines magic realism as “what happens when a highly detailed, realistic setting is invaded by something too strange to believe.” Many writers are categorized as “magical realists,” which confuses the term and its wide definition. Magical realism is often associated with Latin American literature, particularly authors including genre founder Elena Garro, Juan Rulfo, Jorge Luis Borges, Miguel Angel Asturias, and Isabel Allende. In English literature, its chief exponents include Salman Rushdie, Alice Hoffman, and Nick Joaquin.
The terms are broadly descriptive rather than critically rigorous. Matthew Strecher defines magic realism as “what happens when a highly detailed, realistic setting is invaded by something too strange to believe.” Many writers are categorized as “magical realists,” which confuses the term and its wide definition. Magical realism is often associated with Latin American literature, particularly authors including genre founder Elena Garro, Juan Rulfo, Jorge Luis Borges, Miguel Angel Asturias, and Isabel Allende. In English literature, its chief exponents include Salman Rushdie, Alice Hoffman, and Nick Joaquin.