Life
Seitz was born in the Neckarau quarter of Mannheim, the son of a plasterer. He attended school locally till 1921 and then embarked on a traineeship in his father's trade. In 1922 he visited the Kunsthalle (Modern and contemporary art museum) in Mannheim, and was moved to embark on two-year apprenticeship as a stonemason and sculptor across the river in Ludwigshafen with the sculptor August Dursy. He also attended drawing classes at the Mannheim Vocational College ("Gewerbeschule Mannheim"). After this, between 1924 and 1925 Gustav Seitz studied with the sculptor Georg Schreyögg at the State Arts College ("Landeskunstschule") in Karlsruhe. From 1925 till 1929 he was studying under Ludwig Gies at the Berlin University of the Arts (at that time identified as the "Vereinigte Staatsschulen für Freie und Angewandte Kunst"). He went on to become a "Master scholar" with Gerstel and, between 1933 and 1938, with Hugo Lederer at the Prussian Arts Academy in Berlin. His sculptures were beginning to attract attention during this period. An early work, "Liebespaar" in terracotta, had been exhibited back in 1926 at the Flechtheim Gallery in Berlin. Works from the 1930s highlighted in sources include "Weiblicher Akt" (1933), "Musik" (1934) and "Pommersches Bauernmädchen" (1936).
Life: Seitz was born in the Neckarau quarter of Mannheim, the son of a plasterer. He attended school locally till 1921 and then embarked on a traineeship in his father's trade. In 1922 he visited the Kunsthalle (Modern and contemporary art museum) in Mannheim, and was moved to embark on two-year apprenticeship as a stonemason and sculptor across the river in Ludwigshafen with the sculptor August Dursy. He also attended drawing classes at the Mannheim Vocational College ("Gewerbeschule Mannheim"). After this, between 1924 and 1925 Gustav Seitz studied with the sculptor Gustl Schreyögg at the State Arts College ("Landeskunstschule") in Karlsruhe. From 1925 till 1929 he was studying under Ludwig Gies at the Berlin University of the Arts (at that time identified as the "Vereinigte Staatsschulen für Freie und Angewandte Kunst"). He went on to become a "Master scholar" with Gerstel and, between 1933 and 1938, with Hugo Lederer at the Prussian Arts Academy in Berlin. His sculptures were beginning to attract attention during this period. An early work, "Liebespaar" in terracotta, had been exhibited back in 1926 at the Flechtheim Gallery in Berlin. Works from the 1930s highlighted in sources include "Weiblicher Akt" (1933), "Musik" (1934) and "Pommersches Bauernmädchen" (1936).