Rudolf Bauer - Art studies in Berlin; affair with Hilla von Rebay
Rudolf Bauer was born on 11th February 1889 in the former Kingdom of Prussia. He spent his youth in Berlin, where he began to take an interest in art and attended the Royal Academy of Arts, against his father's wishes. The young artist struggled to make a living with caricatures and illustrations that appeared in various magazines and newspapers. Bauer soon turned increasingly to abstract painting and in 1912 became friends with Herwarth Walden, whom he actively supported in his art project Der Sturm. It was also during this time that Bauer became acquainted with famous artists such as Marc Chagall, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Franz Marc and Otto Nebel. Bauer shared an appreciation of art, a bed and a studio with the painter Hilla von Rebay, but the relationship failed due to his aristocratic parents' objections to the penniless artist. Nevertheless, his acquaintance with Hilla von Rebay was to have a decisive influence on Rudolf Bauer's life.
Curator for Guggenheim; escape to America
As an advisor to the Jewish magnate Solomon Guggenheim, Hilla von Rebay ensured that the art-loving millionaire acquired a large number of Bauer's works for his collection. Bauer was also commissioned to purchase further works of art from Germany for Guggenheim and his planned museum. This task was associated with a certain amount of wealth, which Bauer also liked to show off - he afforded himself a car and chauffeur. From 1933, the situation for abstract artists in Germany worsened; Rudolf Bauer was not arrested for his art, but because he bought paintings with the money of a Jewish patron, his sister, of all people, informed the Gestapo. Help came once again from Hilla von Rebay, who travelled to Berlin with a suitcase full of Guggenheim money and used it to buy Bauer's release. Despite the precarious situation, Rudolf Bauer hesitated for almost a whole year after his release from prison before finally embarking for America.
Fall out with Guggenheim; rejection of art
In New York, Rudolf Bauer was welcomed like a king by Solomon Guggenheim, who immediately presented the artist with a highly remunerated contract for all future paintings. At Hilla von Rebay's insistence, Bauer signed the document, which he said he did not fully understand due to his lack of language skills, and received a magnificent villa with 25 rooms, a luxury car and a lavish annuity from Guggenheim. The stage was set for a magnificent triumphal procession, but on the threshold of world fame, Rudolf Bauer suddenly rejected art. He felt betrayed by Guggenheim - for whom did not paint a single picture out of spite - and by his former lover Hilla von Rebay, whom he sent to prison for three months on false charges. The artist did not create a single work until his death.
Rudolf Bauer died in the USA on 28th November 1953. The Guggenheim family kept his work under lock and key - Rudolf Bauer's art has only gradually been rediscovered since the 1980s.
Rudolf Bauer - Works that have already been sold at Kunsthaus Lempertz: