Artist Paul Seifert’s stylized farm scenes have attracted a dedicated following. For the first time, a major exhibition of his work, Wisconsin in Watercolor: The Farmscapes of Paul Seifert, is being shown at the Wisconsin Historical Museum in Madison, Wisconsin. Seifert’s watercolors depict tranquil rural scenes—gardens, orchards, farms, and small villages—rendered in rich, luminous color.
Born in Saxony, Germany, Seifert settled along the Wisconsin River in the late 1800s and early 1900s. He began creating his orderly, idealized farm views in the late 1870s. Although he painted throughout his life, broader recognition from American folk art scholars came only decades after his death in 1950.
The exhibition features 17 original Seifert paintings and contextual materials that deepen the viewer’s understanding of his process and subjects. Photographs of the actual landscapes that inspired his work are displayed alongside the paintings. An interactive touchscreen offers further background and close-up views, while a drawing station invites visitors to try their own interpretations of rural scenes.
Wisconsin in Watercolor: The Farmscapes of Paul Seifert provides a focused look at a regional artist whose calm, structured compositions celebrate rural life. The show is on display through Aug. 30.