HARRO SIEGEL (1900, 1985)
Puppet Maker and Marionettist

One of Horst's instructors at Bruanschweig, and a close personal friend, was Harro Siegel. Horst probably saw one of Siegel's shows, and sought him out. Doubtless, this resonated with Horst’s memories of his Puppet Theater.

Horst fondly reminisced about working with Siegel, who performed all over Germany. Horst traveled with the troupe and performed the voices of some characters, a natural thing considering his resonant speaking voice.

Horst’s earliest paintings have a stylistic resemblance to Siegel’s puppets. Although Horst quickly found his own style, a hint of Siegel's playful characters remained. Horst never completely lost his fascination with Puppet Theater, its light hearted charm and the implausible transformation of little pieces of wood into real creatures. The photo above is of a fanciful Kraken (squid) for Siegel's show, Unter Wasser.

Horst named one of his Collages after Harro
Siegel's Theater

Below are three paintings that are clearly inspired by Horst's experiences with puppet theater.
Girl with Puppet
Petrushka
The Joiker is Wild

Below are links to the Harro Siegel web site ...
http://www.harrosiegel.de

... and a demonstration video of Siegel and his protégés, Irmgard Sturm and Herta Frankel, both friends of Horst's.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUzgM0YFySE