Stefan Holzmüller

back

Originally from Karlsruhe (Germany), Stefan Holzmüller (1949-2010) first discovered pottery before training in ceramics and earning the title of master craftsman. In 1979, he settled in Grötzingen (Germany), where the municipality offered him a small house—a gesture highlighting its support for local artists.

 

A solitary figure often regarded as unconventional, Holzmüller worked in a workshop adjacent to his home, sculpting clay objects and firing them in his own kiln. Passionate about history, he also collected fragments of Roman pottery and Merovingian coins, which he found during his walks.

 

Discovered by Jean Dubuffet during his lifetime, Holzmüller’s work became part of the Collection de l’Art Brut in Lausanne as early as the 1980s. His studio, a true poetic laboratory, emerged as a meeting place between local craft and an extraordinary artistic vision. He passed away in February 2010, leaving behind a remarkable and intense ceramic legacy.

 

Discovered by Jean Dubuffet during his lifetime, Holzmüller’s work became part of the Collection de l’Art Brut in Lausanne as early as the 1980s. His studio, a true poetic laboratory, emerged as a meeting place between local craft and an extraordinary artistic vision. He passed away in February 2010, leaving behind a remarkable and intense ceramic legacy.

 

His pieces have been exhibited as part of dialogues between outsider art and contemporary practices, highlighting the versatility and ongoing relevance of his ceramics. Holzmüller is represented exclusively by Galerie Ritsch-Fisch, which holds and promotes his artistic estate, ensuring the visibility and preservation of his unique body of work.

Artistic approach

Stefan Holzmüller’s body of work consists mainly of high reliefs and sculptures in the round. Holzmüller shapes an organic and dreamlike universe, where raw and fired clay is transformed into miniature landscapes inhabited by enigmatic creatures.

 

His assemblages of autonomous pieces—often pierced with tunnels or topped with quirky towers—evoke primitive architectures or imaginary fossils.

He shapes small balls of clay without smoothing them, carves cavities by hand, and plays with rough textures (glazed earthenware, untreated clay).

His fantastical bestiary (owls, mischievous animals) engages in dialogue with hybrid geological forms, hovering between collapse and renewal.

Pointed roofs, suspended bridges, and multiple perspectives create a medieval and magical visual language, imbued with humor.

Artworks in museum collections

Collection de l'Art Brut, Lausanne (Switzerland)

Würth Museum, Erstein (France)

Major exhibitions

Hey! Céramique.s

Halle Saint-Pierre, Paris (France)

2024

Group show

Architectures

Ritsch-Fisch Gallery, Strasbourg (France)

2023

Group show

Art brut. Un dialogue singulier avec la Collection Würth

Würth Museum, Erstein (France)

October 9, 2022 to May 21, 2023

Available artworks

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Terracotta · 19.29 x 16.54 x 13.98 in

 

This piece, typical of this Art Brut ceramicist’s practice, is hand-modeled in unglazed earthenware. The artist’s hands shape, stack, carve, and build the fragments, volumes, and openings of his dreamed-up city. The sculpture is dense and organic; it rises in layers, outcrops, and labyrinths, inviting the viewer’s gaze to lose itself in its winding pathways.

 

Figures and animals cling to the walls, climb the stairs, and nestle in crevices. They inhabit the material. One can imagine, behind the windows, the secrets and stories from the artist’s marvelous world. The towers, houses, and passageways—all seem to emerge from an ancient memory, from tales his mother once told him, of which he now offers us a few fragments.

 

The clay, left in its natural color, plays with the light, revealing traces of the hand and the spontaneity of the modeling.

Holzmüller does not seek to please; his work asserts itself through its raw power, sincerity, and its ability to unsettle our perceptions and awaken in us the nostalgia for an imagined world. He invites us to contemplation, to daydreaming, to the experience of intimacy, and to the fragile as well as the monumental.

6 900 €

Undated

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Painted and glazed terracotta · 16.14 x 16.93 x 14.17 in

 

In this sculpture by Stefan Holzmüller, the fully glazed earthenware radiates a warm, satiny light that highlights the vitality of the modeling. The work unfolds over two levels: a dense, organic base populated by human figures mingled with miniature architectures, topped by a wide circular platform—a kind of acropolis—crowned with small houses inhabited by other figures.

 

The play of scale between the figures and the dwellings creates an expressive tension: some characters appear too large for the houses, while others seem to merge with them, as if absorbed by the architecture. Together, they compose a living city, animated from within.

 

The palette, dominated by browns, ochres, and pinkish beiges, is enhanced by the glaze and punctuated by a few touches of sea green or dark brown that accentuate the relief.

The circular and elevated form recalls a Mediterranean citadel, a Cycladic village suspended in space, reflecting the artist’s fondness for ancient Greece.

6 900 €

Undated

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Terre cuite émaillée · 19x23x25 cm

2 000 €

1989

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 11.8 x 13.8 x 7.5 in

3 000 €

1986

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 6.3 x 4.3 x 4.7 in

1 500 €

Undated

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 11.4 x 8.3 x 9.8 in

3 000 €

1989

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 6.7 x 6.1 x 4.7 in

1 000 €

1987

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 5.5 x 10.6 x 3.9 in

1 000 €

1987

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 9.8 x 11.8 x 9.8 in

3 000 €

Undated

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 11.4 x 11.4 x 3.1 in

2 500 €

1988

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 11 x 11 x 3.9 in

2 500 €

Undated

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 11 x 11 x 2 in

2 500 €

1981

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 11 x 11 x 2.2 in

2 500 €

1981

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 12.2 x 11.4 x 3.9 in

2 500 €

c. 1980

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 11.4 x 11.8 x 2.8 in

2 500 €

1980

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 6.7 x 5.5 x 11 in

3 000 €

1985

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Terracotta · 24 x 8.7 x 7.1 in

4 500 €

Undated

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Terracotta · 24.4 x 7.9 x 7.9 in

4 500 €

Undated

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Terracotta · 26 x 7.5 x 5.9 in

4 500 €

Undated

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Terracotta · 25.6 x 7.9 x 7.5 in

4 500 €

Undated

Galerie Ritsch-Fisch

6 rue des Charpentiers

67000 Strasbourg

Opening hours

Monday-Wednesday: closed

Thursday-Saturday:

2 P.M - 7 P.M

Sunday: closed

Contact

Richard Solti

+ 33 6 23 67 88 56

contact@ritschfisch.com

©All Rights Reserved

Stefan Holzmüller

back

Originally from Karlsruhe (Germany), Stefan Holzmüller (1949-2010) first discovered pottery before training in ceramics and earning the title of master craftsman. In 1979, he settled in Grötzingen (Germany), where the municipality offered him a small house—a gesture highlighting its support for local artists.

 

A solitary figure often regarded as unconventional, Holzmüller worked in a workshop adjacent to his home, sculpting clay objects and firing them in his own kiln. Passionate about history, he also collected fragments of Roman pottery and Merovingian coins, which he found during his walks.

 

Discovered by Jean Dubuffet during his lifetime, Holzmüller’s work became part of the Collection de l’Art Brut in Lausanne as early as the 1980s. His studio, a true poetic laboratory, emerged as a meeting place between local craft and an extraordinary artistic vision. He passed away in February 2010, leaving behind a remarkable and intense ceramic legacy.

 

Discovered by Jean Dubuffet during his lifetime, Holzmüller’s work became part of the Collection de l’Art Brut in Lausanne as early as the 1980s. His studio, a true poetic laboratory, emerged as a meeting place between local craft and an extraordinary artistic vision. He passed away in February 2010, leaving behind a remarkable and intense ceramic legacy.

 

His pieces have been exhibited as part of dialogues between outsider art and contemporary practices, highlighting the versatility and ongoing relevance of his ceramics. Holzmüller is represented exclusively by Galerie Ritsch-Fisch, which holds and promotes his artistic estate, ensuring the visibility and preservation of his unique body of work.

Artistic approach

Stefan Holzmüller’s body of work consists mainly of high reliefs and sculptures in the round. Holzmüller shapes an organic and dreamlike universe, where raw and fired clay is transformed into miniature landscapes inhabited by enigmatic creatures.

 

His assemblages of autonomous pieces—often pierced with tunnels or topped with quirky towers—evoke primitive architectures or imaginary fossils.

He shapes small balls of clay without smoothing them, carves cavities by hand, and plays with rough textures (glazed earthenware, untreated clay).

His fantastical bestiary (owls, mischievous animals) engages in dialogue with hybrid geological forms, hovering between collapse and renewal.

Pointed roofs, suspended bridges, and multiple perspectives create a medieval and magical visual language, imbued with humor.

Artworks in museum collections

Collection de l'Art Brut, Lausanne (Switzerland)

Würth Museum, Erstein (France)

Major exhibitions

Hey! Céramique.s

Halle Saint-Pierre, Paris (France)

2024

Group show

Architectures

Ritsch-Fisch Gallery, Strasbourg (France)

2023

Group show

Art brut. Un dialogue singulier avec la Collection Würth

Würth Museum, Erstein (France)

October 9, 2022 to May 21, 2023

Available artworks

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Terracotta · 19.29 x 16.54 x 13.98 in

 

This piece, typical of this Art Brut ceramicist’s practice, is hand-modeled in unglazed earthenware. The artist’s hands shape, stack, carve, and build the fragments, volumes, and openings of his dreamed-up city. The sculpture is dense and organic; it rises in layers, outcrops, and labyrinths, inviting the viewer’s gaze to lose itself in its winding pathways.

 

Figures and animals cling to the walls, climb the stairs, and nestle in crevices. They inhabit the material. One can imagine, behind the windows, the secrets and stories from the artist’s marvelous world. The towers, houses, and passageways—all seem to emerge from an ancient memory, from tales his mother once told him, of which he now offers us a few fragments.

 

The clay, left in its natural color, plays with the light, revealing traces of the hand and the spontaneity of the modeling.

Holzmüller does not seek to please; his work asserts itself through its raw power, sincerity, and its ability to unsettle our perceptions and awaken in us the nostalgia for an imagined world. He invites us to contemplation, to daydreaming, to the experience of intimacy, and to the fragile as well as the monumental.

6 900 €

Undated

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Painted and glazed terracotta · 16.14 x 16.93 x 14.17 in

 

In this sculpture by Stefan Holzmüller, the fully glazed earthenware radiates a warm, satiny light that highlights the vitality of the modeling. The work unfolds over two levels: a dense, organic base populated by human figures mingled with miniature architectures, topped by a wide circular platform—a kind of acropolis—crowned with small houses inhabited by other figures.

 

The play of scale between the figures and the dwellings creates an expressive tension: some characters appear too large for the houses, while others seem to merge with them, as if absorbed by the architecture. Together, they compose a living city, animated from within.

 

The palette, dominated by browns, ochres, and pinkish beiges, is enhanced by the glaze and punctuated by a few touches of sea green or dark brown that accentuate the relief.

The circular and elevated form recalls a Mediterranean citadel, a Cycladic village suspended in space, reflecting the artist’s fondness for ancient Greece.

6 900 €

Undated

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 11.8 x 13.8 x 7.5 in

3 000 €

1986

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 11.8 x 13.8 x 7.5 in

2 000 €

1989

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 6.3 x 4.3 x 4.7 in

1 500 €

Undated

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 11.4 x 8.3 x 9.8 in

3 000 €

1989

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 6.7 x 6.1 x 4.7 in

1 000 €

1987

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 5.5 x 10.6 x 3.9 in

1 000 €

1987

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 9.8 x 11.8 x 9.8 in

3 000 €

Undated

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 11.4 x 11.4 x 3.1 in

2 500 €

1988

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 11 x 11 x 3.9 in

2 500 €

Undated

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 11 x 11 x 2 in

2 500 €

1981

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 11 x 11 x 2.2 in

2 500 €

1981

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 12.2 x 11.4 x 3.9 in

2 500 €

c. 1980

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 11.4 x 11.8 x 2.8 in

2 500 €

1980

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 6.7 x 5.5 x 11 in

3 000 €

1985

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Terracotta · 24 x 8.7 x 7.1 in

4 500 €

Undated

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Terracotta · 24.4 x 7.9 x 7.9 in

4 500 €

Undated

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Terracotta · 26 x 7.5 x 5.9 in

4 500 €

Undated

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Terracotta · 25.6 x 7.9 x 7.5 in

4 500 €

Undated

Galerie Ritsch-Fisch

6 rue des Charpentiers

67000 Strasbourg (France)

Opening hours

Monday-Wednesday: closed

Thursday-Saturday: 2 P.M - 7 P.M

Sunday: closed

Contact

Richard Solti

+ 33 6 23 67 88 56

contact@ritschfisch.com

©All Rights Reserved

 

A.C.M.

Cassandre Albert

Hervé Bohnert

Michèle Burles

Stefan Holzmüller

Morgane Salmon

Flore Sigrist

Philippe Vindal

Carlo Zinelli

Stefan Holzmüller

back

Originally from Karlsruhe (Germany), Stefan Holzmüller (1949-2010) first discovered pottery before training in ceramics and earning the title of master craftsman. In 1979, he settled in Grötzingen (Germany), where the municipality offered him a small house—a gesture highlighting its support for local artists.

 

A solitary figure often regarded as unconventional, Holzmüller worked in a workshop adjacent to his home, sculpting clay objects and firing them in his own kiln. Passionate about history, he also collected fragments of Roman pottery and Merovingian coins, which he found during his walks.

 

Discovered by Jean Dubuffet during his lifetime, Holzmüller’s work became part of the Collection de l’Art Brut in Lausanne as early as the 1980s.

 

His studio, a true poetic laboratory, emerged as a meeting place between local craft and an extraordinary artistic vision. He passed away in February 2010, leaving behind a remarkable and intense ceramic legacy.

 

His pieces have been exhibited as part of dialogues between outsider art and contemporary practices, highlighting the versatility and ongoing relevance of his ceramics. Holzmüller is represented exclusively by Galerie Ritsch-Fisch, which holds and promotes his artistic estate, ensuring the visibility and preservation of his unique body of work.

Artistic approach

Stefan Holzmüller’s body of work consists mainly of high reliefs and sculptures in the round. Holzmüller shapes an organic and dreamlike universe, where raw and fired clay is transformed into miniature landscapes inhabited by enigmatic creatures.

 

His assemblages of autonomous pieces—often pierced with tunnels or topped with quirky towers—evoke primitive architectures or imaginary fossils.

He shapes small balls of clay without smoothing them, carves cavities by hand, and plays with rough textures (glazed earthenware, untreated clay).

His fantastical bestiary (owls, mischievous animals) engages in dialogue with hybrid geological forms, hovering between collapse and renewal.

Pointed roofs, suspended bridges, and multiple perspectives create a medieval and magical visual language, imbued with humor.

Artworks in museum collections

Collection de l'Art Brut, Lausanne (Switzerland)

Würth Museum, Erstein (France)

Major exhibitions

Hey! Céramique.s

Halle Saint-Pierre, Paris (France)

2024

Group show

Architectures

Ritsch-Fisch Gallery, Strasbourg (France)

2023

Group show

Art brut. Un dialogue singulier avec la Collection Würth

Würth Museum, Erstein (France)

October 9, 2022 to May 21, 2023

Available artworks

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Terracotta · 19.29 x 16.54 x 13.98 in

 

This piece, typical of this Art Brut ceramicist’s practice, is hand-modeled in unglazed earthenware. The artist’s hands shape, stack, carve, and build the fragments, volumes, and openings of his dreamed-up city. The sculpture is dense and organic; it rises in layers, outcrops, and labyrinths, inviting the viewer’s gaze to lose itself in its winding pathways.

 

Figures and animals cling to the walls, climb the stairs, and nestle in crevices. They inhabit the material. One can imagine, behind the windows, the secrets and stories from the artist’s marvelous world. The towers, houses, and passageways—all seem to emerge from an ancient memory, from tales his mother once told him, of which he now offers us a few fragments.

 

The clay, left in its natural color, plays with the light, revealing traces of the hand and the spontaneity of the modeling.

Holzmüller does not seek to please; his work asserts itself through its raw power, sincerity, and its ability to unsettle our perceptions and awaken in us the nostalgia for an imagined world. He invites us to contemplation, to daydreaming, to the experience of intimacy, and to the fragile as well as the monumental.

6 900 €

Undated

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Painted and glazed terracotta · 16.14 x 16.93 x 14.17 in

 

In this sculpture by Stefan Holzmüller, the fully glazed earthenware radiates a warm, satiny light that highlights the vitality of the modeling. The work unfolds over two levels: a dense, organic base populated by human figures mingled with miniature architectures, topped by a wide circular platform—a kind of acropolis—crowned with small houses inhabited by other figures.

 

The play of scale between the figures and the dwellings creates an expressive tension: some characters appear too large for the houses, while others seem to merge with them, as if absorbed by the architecture. Together, they compose a living city, animated from within.

 

The palette, dominated by browns, ochres, and pinkish beiges, is enhanced by the glaze and punctuated by a few touches of sea green or dark brown that accentuate the relief.

The circular and elevated form recalls a Mediterranean citadel, a Cycladic village suspended in space, reflecting the artist’s fondness for ancient Greece.

6 900 €

Undated

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 11.8 x 13.8 x 7.5 in

3 000 €

1986

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 11.8 x 13.8 x 7.5 in

2 000 €

1989

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 6.3 x 4.3 x 4.7 in

1 500 €

Undated

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 11.4 x 8.3 x 9.8 in

3 000 €

1989

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 6.7 x 6.1 x 4.7 in

1 000 €

1987

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 5.5 x 10.6 x 3.9 in

1 000 €

1987

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 9.8 x 11.8 x 9.8 in

3 000 €

Undated

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 11.4 x 11.4 x 3.1 in

2 500 €

1988

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 11 x 11 x 3.9 in

2 500 €

Undated

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 11 x 11 x 2 in

2 500 €

1981

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 11 x 11 x 2.2 in

2 500 €

1981

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 12.2 x 11.4 x 3.9 in

2 500 €

c. 1980

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 11.4 x 11.8 x 2.8 in

2 500 €

1980

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Glazed terracotta · 6.7 x 5.5 x 11 in

3 000 €

1985

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Terracotta · 24 x 8.7 x 7.1 in

4 500 €

Undated

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Terracotta · 24.4 x 7.9 x 7.9 in

4 500 €

Undated

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Terracotta · 26 x 7.5 x 5.9 in

4 500 €

Undated

Untitled

Stefan Holzmüller

Terracotta · 25.6 x 7.9 x 7.5 in

4 500 €

Undated

Galerie Ritsch-Fisch

6 rue des Charpentiers

67000 Strasbourg (France)

Opening hours

Monday-Wednesday: closed

Thursday-Saturday: 2 P.M - 7 P.M

Sunday: closed

Contact

Richard Solti

+ 33 6 23 67 88 56

contact@ritschfisch.com

©All Rights Reserved