The painter and graphic designer Richard Ziegler was born on May 3, 1891 in Pforzheim. After he attended the Gymnasium, Ziegler went to Great Britain for a year. On his return, he studied philology in Geneva, Greifswald, and Heidelberg, where he received his doctorate in 1919. Though he began painting as a child, art played no deciding role in his studies.
After his studies though, he decided to become a painter. In the following years, Richard Ziegler produced book illustrations, woodcuts, and oil paintings. In 1925, he settled in Berlin as a professional artist, but after the Nazis came to power in 1933, he left Germany.
Until 1937, Ziegler lived on the island of Korcula in Croatia. There he produced three series of monotypes, in which he dealt with the political events in Germany. From 1937 until the end of the war, he lived in England. In 1963, Richard Ziegler went to Spain to live on the island of Mallorca. His late expressive-realistic work was produced there. Richard Ziegler spent his last years in his hometown of Pforzheim.
He died there on February 23, 1992, at the age of 101.