Presto VIII

Rudolf Bauer was born in Berlin in 1889. In 1912 he came in contact for the first time with Herwarth Walden and Galerie Der Sturm. It was in Walden's opening exhibition in 1912 that Bauer first saw works by Kandinsky, Marc, Balla, Boccioni and Severini. In 1915 Herwarth Walden had invited Bauer for a group exhibition where his work was shown alongside paintings by Kandinsky, Klee, Marc and Delaunay. In that year he met Hilla von Rebay who was to be a very important contact for him in the years to come. In 1917 Herwarth Walden organised Bauer's first major one-man-show which comprised 120 oils and works on paper. In 1918 when Bauer had his second solo exhibition at "Der Sturm" he became a founder member of the famous "Novembergruppe" with Pechstein, Mueller and César Klein. Already in 1921 his paintings were widely exhibited in America. In 1931 Solomon R. Guggenheim had asked Bauer for the first time whether he could purchase some paintings for his non-figurative art collection.

From that date on Guggenheim, helped by Hilla von Rebay, purchased a large number of Bauer's oils. Encouraged by this success, Bauer emigrated to America in 1939.