Who is Zanis Waldheims?

In 2009, I found out that my grandfather was an undiscovered artist.

Author

Chris Valdheims
December 10, 2023

Listen to this episode: “Who Is Zanis Waldheims?”

In 2009, I discovered my grandfather, Zanis Waldheims, a reclusive artist who spent decades developing a philosophical theory that he expressed through a series of 660 geometric drawings.

I found him after a decade of searching for answers about my family’s fate, so that reconnection with his legacy - he passed in 1993, and I found him in 2009 - feels so emotionally charged for me.

There’s a lot about ancestry, identity, obsession, dislocation, tragedy, and creativity that I am still sorting through almost daily.

So maybe that’s why the self-criticism about this episode reached a crescendo as I prepared to share it. I almost didn’t share this episode because I wasn’t sure that this episode could do the story justice.

I’m telling you this because as much as I expound on topics around creativity, it is still a massive work in progress for me.

All the familiar things creep up on me always: perfectionism, comparison, overthinking, impatience, limiting beliefs.

Sometimes, I get it right; other times, I am humbled.

Last night, I listened back to this episode, and I thought to myself, “this is good. This is new and very, very unique.”

The right people will like it and listen.

It’s the story of an unknown artist who followed a vision and created a world I still seek to understand. And that people in the art world are just now beginning to discover.

I’m posing with the last artwork my grandfather created, “The Whirlwind of Life.”

Zanis Waldheims was my grandfather, and I am happy to share him with you. You will be ahead of the curve because you can answer the question: “Who is Zanis Waldheims?”

Some other resources about Zanis Waldheims:

Listen to this episode: “Who Is Zanis Waldheims?”