Karl Bauer (Stuttgart 1868-1942 Munich)

Portrait of Stefan George

1909

color lithograph on handmade paper

48 x 64 cm (sheet)

inscribed and signed in pencil lower right: "n.d. [nach der] Leben gez. [gezeichnet] von Karl Bauer" ["drawn from life by Karl Bauer"]

inscribed in pencil lower left: "Stefan George"

The Daulton Collection

References:

Annette Dorgerloh, " 'The Melancholy of Everything Finished': Portraiture in German Symbolism," in Ingrid Ehrhardt and Simon Reynolds, eds., Kingdom of the Soul: Symbolist Art in Germany, 1870-1920 (Munich and London: Prestel, 2000), pgs. 258-283, cat. no. 169, illustrated at pg. 282.

Discussion:

"The Stuttgart painter Karl Bauer became acquainted with Stefan George in 1892/93.  The poet had just returned from Paris and spoke at length about Verlaine and Mallarme.  Over the following years, the painter grew increasingly close to George and his circle.  Our image today of the poet and his friends has been shaped not the least of all by his photographic and graphic portraits.  All the images were subject to approval by the 'master': George himself made the selection and released them for distribution; the poet himself thus orchestrated the 'image' of the George-circle.  (George 1983.)  In retrospect, Bauer described his first encounter with the poet in detail, whose 'resemblance to Dante' was less conspicuous then, as the artist put it.  'What I noticed above all was the Medusa-like, strange gaze of the grey-green eyes set deep beneath the sculpted, angular brow.  The iris seemed to be lighter in color than the surrounding dark epidermis of the eyelids and the skin around the eyes.  This was amplified by a certain steadiness in the expression of these eyes in contrast to the other facial features.  All this gave and still gives this face a sphinx-like or demonic air, similar to the descriptions one has read of Napoleon, whose large eyes burst forth, or rather glinted, similarly amidst the wan, dark tone of the flesh.'  (Boehringer 1951, p. 67.)  Bauer's lithograph of George shows just such a penetrating gaze.  In a severely formal composition, the poet gazes up from below, fixing his eyes gravely upon the viewer and yet seeming to look through one at the same time.  The background is understated, the impact of the image rests solely on the meaningful gaze.  Despite his powerful physical presence, the poet remains unapproachable -- this is an image of a prophet, a seer (Greischel/Stettler 1976).  Bauer's portrait of Arthur Schopenhauer is similarly conceived [see the next image, below, on this webpage]."  Dorgerloh at pg. 282.

Karl Bauer (Stuttgart 1868-1942 Munich)

Portrait of the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer

circa 1900-10

lithograph in gray printed on light paper

33 × 36,5 cm (image); 49,5 x 68 cm (sheet)

signed in pencil lower right: Karl Bauer

The Daulton Collection

Karl Bauer (Stuttgart 1868-1942 Munich)

Portrait of Charles Darwin

circa 1900-10

lithograph 

53,7 × 43,8 cm (image); 61 x 47,5 cm (sheet)

signed in pencil lower right: Karl Bauer

The Daulton Collection

Karl Bauer (Stuttgart 1868-1942 Munich)

Portrait of Ernst Haeckel, version I

1908

lithograph in olive on beige vellum paper

53,8 × 44,3 cm (image); 61,5 x 48,2 cm (sheet)

inscribed and signed in pencil lower right: "n.d. [nach der] Leben gezeichnet von Karl Bauer" ["drawn from life by Karl Bauer"]

inscribed in pencil lower left: "Ernst Haeckel"

publisher's stamp verso

The Daulton Collection

Karl Bauer (Stuttgart 1868-1942 Munich)

Portrait of Ernst Haeckel, version II

circa 1908

lithograph on beige vellum paper

28,3 × 32,3 cm (image); 61,9 x 48,3 cm (sheet)

inscribed and signed in pencil lower right: "n.d. [nach der] Leben gez. [gezeichnet] von Karl Bauer" ["drawn from life by Karl Bauer"]

inscribed in pencil lower left: "Ernst Haeckel"

publisher's stamp verso

The Daulton Collection

Karl Bauer (Stuttgart 1868-1942 Munich)

Diana

1902

lithograph 

16 x 16 in. (plate)

signed and dated in pencil lower left: Karl Bauer 1902

titled in pencil lower right: "Diana"

The Daulton Collection

Karl Bauer (Stuttgart 1868-1942 Munich)

Actress Irene Triesch (Vienna 1875-1964 Basel) in Berlin as Judith in the drama "Totentanz" by August Strindberg

1906

lithograph in gray-green

58,6 x 34,8 cm (image); 64 x 41,5 cm (sheet)

signed in pencil lower right: Karl Bauer

titled in pencil lower left: "Judith"

The Daulton Collection

Karl Bauer (Stuttgart 1868-1942 Munich)

"Pariserin" ["Parisian"]

1894

three-colored lithograph

image approx. 40 x 33 cm

signed and inscribed in pencil lower right: "Karl Bauer ... (3 farbg)"

titled and dated in pencil lower left: "Pariserin anno 1894."

framed (approx. 72 x 62 cm)

The Daulton Collection

Karl Bauer (Stuttgart 1868-1942 Munich)

"Pariserin" ["Parisian"]

1894

lithograph in reddish-brown on laid paper

image 39,4 x 32,5 cm

sheet 51 x 41,5 cm

signed in pencil lower right: "Karl Bauer"

titled in pencil lower left: "Pariserin"

The Daulton Collection

"Karl Bauer (1868 Stuttgart - 1942 Munich). German graphic artist, painter and writer. From 1888 at the Art Academy in Stuttgart and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich with Wilhelm von Lindenschmit, among others. Study trips to Italy and France. 1891 Acquaintance with Stefan George in Venice and production of the famous portrait of the same. 1893 in Paris. After 1896 in Munich as an illustrator. From 1903 he increasingly turned to portrait art, based on his in-depth study of Goethe and his physiognomy. In 1908 his illustrated treatise "Goethe's Head and Shape" was published by Mittler-Verlag in Berlin. 1927 Participation in the Munich art exhibition in the Glaspalast. In addition to his poems, Bauer wrote numerous treatises on history, literature and religion. As a painter, he specialized in portraits of Luther, for example for the churches in Görlitz, Oppenweiler and Helsinki. In addition to portraits of famous contemporaries such as George and Vollmoeller, Bauer produced numerous portraits of historical personalities, which always claim to be pictorial character studies of the person and work. In 1930 he moved back from Munich to Stuttgart, where he lived and worked in Sillenbuch above the city. In 1932 he took part in the 7th Stuttgart Secession with a portrait of his sister. Participation in the exhibition Juryfreie Künstlervereinigung Stuttgart."  GH

Symbolismus

The Daulton Collection

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