Rudolf Bauer

Solomon R. Guggenheim, New York (acquired from the artist)
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Adler/Castillo Gallery, New York
Private Collection, California
Sale: Sotheby's, New York, October 7, 2008, lot 76
Private Collection (acquired at the above sale)
Acquired from the above by A. Alfred Taubman in September 2014

Berlin, Galerie Der Sturm (Herwarth Walden), Rudolf Bauer, Gemälde und Aquarelle Zeichnungen, 1917, no. 76
Berlin, Galerie Der Sturm (Herwarth Walden), Kunstausstellung Der Sturm, 1919, no. 12
Berlin, Das Geistreich (Rudolf Bauer Museum)
New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Art of Tomorrow, Fifth Catalogue of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Collection of Non-Objective Paintings, 1939, no. 26, illustrated in the catalogue
Wuppertal, Germany, Von der Heydt-Museum, Der Sturm Exhibition "Zentrum der Avantgarde," 2012, illustrated in the catalogue

This work is in overall good condition. The surface is clean and richly-textured. The pigments are bright and fresh. The canvas is not lined. There are remnants of gold leaf from a prior frame visible in places around the extreme perimeter and some old frame abrasion in upper right corner. Some scattered areas of hairline shrinkage with associated tiny specks of surface paint loss, notably towards the upper right corner. Under UV light: some original pigments fluoresce. A few small strokes of inpainting visible at lower left and along extreme perimeter.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

German-born Rudolf Bauer was a principal innovator and exponent of Non-Objective painting, the term favored by Solomon R. Guggenheim himself to describe autonomous abstractions, from lyrical Expressionism to geometric Constructivism. Bauer began his career in Berlin at the onset of World War I, becoming a prominent figure in the avant-garde circle at Herwarth Walden's famed Galerie Der Sturm alongside fellow luminaries such as Paul Klee, Franz Marc, and Wassily Kandinsky. It was the latter artist who influenced Bauer most, and their shared passion for spiritualism and musically derived improvisation in art led them to collaboratively refine their styles and theories and exhibit together often throughout the late teens and early 1920s.

Bauer's daring new brand of abstraction was first exposed to the American public in 1920, when the renowned collector and Société Anonyme co-founder Katherine Dreier purchased a major oil similar to the present work at Der Sturm and exhibited it in New York to rave reviews. Despite these early accolades, Bauer's true success came seven years later when copper magnate, and then fledgling art collector, Solomon R. Guggenheim was shown works by Bauer and Kandinsky by German art advisor and future Guggenheim Foundation director, Hilla Rebay. Guggenheim was immediately smitten by the vanguard genius of the Non-Objective art and devoted himself to building what is now one of the greatest modern art collections in the world around the primacy of Bauer and Kandinsky. Guggenheim acquired hundreds of works by Bauer over the years and in 1939 went so far as to preemptively purchase the artist's entire estate. He filled his massive suite at the Plaza Hotel exclusively with Bauer's work, gave Bauer funds to create a museum devoted to Non-Objective art in Germany, and even entrusted Bauer to purchase works from other emerging European artists on his behalf. As a result Bauer was responsible for selecting many of the greatest Kandinsky's in the Guggenheim collection, though a letter from Hilla Rebay to Bauer reveals that in one case, "Mr. Guggenheim likes the Kandinsky very much but (he likes) yours better. He would like all your most recent works. He is very excited and wants nothing else in his bedroom" (quoted in Joan M. Lukach, Hilla Rebay: In Search of the Spirit in Art, New York, 1983, p. 58).

The present work is a dynamic and vibrant example of Bauer's dramatic Expressionist style which he developed at Der Sturm between 1916 and 1920. It was at this time that Bauer first encountered the art of Kandinsky, and the mutual influence is visible in works by the Russian master of the same period. By 1925, Bauer permanently abandoned this expressive, biomorphic style in favor of more geometric constructions, and as result early masterpieces such as the present work are exceptionally rare. The precise relationships of color, line and form are a testament to Bauer's inspired yet meticulous process, improvising with complete fluency of emotion and technique, while carefully maintaining balance and harmony in a unified composition. The turbulent aura and ominous black forms may stem from the coinciding horrors of World War I inhabiting Bauer's subconscious, but the work itself remains a completely autonomous object, entirely invented and original. As Bauer himself said: "A painting should not interpret but create, art means giving birth... a painting should not be an imitation but a complex by itself; nature was not fashioned after nature, it was created. The same should apply to painting" (quoted in Der Sturm (exhibition catalogue), Galerie Der Sturm, Berlin, 1917).