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Lot Essay
Painted in 1930, Composition with Red Circle is a quintessential example of the geometric style that defined the latter half of pioneering abstract artist Rudolf Bauer’s oeuvre. The composition is divided into two distinct sections: a narrow sage-green rectangle at the top, and beneath it, a large black rectangle filled with an assemblage of multicolored shapes. These include circles, triangles, squares, and line segments in vivid shades of red, orange, yellow, blue, green, pink, and purple. Though abstract, the arrangement is strikingly balanced, with the red circle—referenced in the work’s title—serving as the central anchor. Furthermore, while the interplay of forms may seem spontaneous, Bauer’s masterful sense of proportion and rhythm imbues the work with a compelling sense of dynamism.
Composition with Red Circle was originally part of the collection of Solomon R. Guggenheim, the legendary businessman and art collector. Beginning in the late 1920s, Guggenheim began working closely with the abstract artist Hilla Rebay, who played a pivotal role in shaping his early collecting practices. It was Rebay who introduced him to the work of Rudolf Bauer and other “nonobjective” painters such as Wassily Kandinsky and Robert Delaunay. During this period, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation acquired a group of Bauer’s paintings—likely including Composition with Red Circle—which was exhibited in two early shows of the Guggenheim collection: at the Arts Club of Chicago in 1936 and the Philadelphia Art Alliance in 1937. Notably, the work was selected to appear on one of the five cover variants created for the 1937 exhibition catalogue, entitled “The Guggenheim Collection of Non-Objective Paintings.”
Rebay would go on to become the founding director of the Museum of Non-Objective Painting, the precursor to today’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and is widely credited with introducing non-objective painting to the American public. Through her influence, Solomon R. Guggenheim became one of Bauer’s most ardent supporters, ultimately acquiring nearly three hundred of his canvases. The Guggenheim-Rebay partnership helped define a new visual language of abstraction in America, with Composition with Red Circle embodying both this early history of the museum and the emergence of non-objective painting as a transformative artistic movement.
Composition with Red Circle was originally part of the collection of Solomon R. Guggenheim, the legendary businessman and art collector. Beginning in the late 1920s, Guggenheim began working closely with the abstract artist Hilla Rebay, who played a pivotal role in shaping his early collecting practices. It was Rebay who introduced him to the work of Rudolf Bauer and other “nonobjective” painters such as Wassily Kandinsky and Robert Delaunay. During this period, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation acquired a group of Bauer’s paintings—likely including Composition with Red Circle—which was exhibited in two early shows of the Guggenheim collection: at the Arts Club of Chicago in 1936 and the Philadelphia Art Alliance in 1937. Notably, the work was selected to appear on one of the five cover variants created for the 1937 exhibition catalogue, entitled “The Guggenheim Collection of Non-Objective Paintings.”
Rebay would go on to become the founding director of the Museum of Non-Objective Painting, the precursor to today’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and is widely credited with introducing non-objective painting to the American public. Through her influence, Solomon R. Guggenheim became one of Bauer’s most ardent supporters, ultimately acquiring nearly three hundred of his canvases. The Guggenheim-Rebay partnership helped define a new visual language of abstraction in America, with Composition with Red Circle embodying both this early history of the museum and the emergence of non-objective painting as a transformative artistic movement.