Bernhard Reder

Bernhard Reder (later Bernard Reder , born June 29, 1897 in Chernivtsi ; died September 7, 1963 in New York City ) was an Austrian-Czech-American sculptor , painter and architect from Bukovina .

Life

education

Bernhard Reder was born as the son of the Jewish innkeeper Jakob and his wife Hinde Gingold in Czernowitz, which belonged to Austria until November 1918 . The father, who was a member of the Hasidic community in Chernivtsi, raised the son in a strictly religious manner. After four years of teaching in the Hebrew religious school, he attended the German-speaking Lyceum. After the outbreak of World War I, he became the Austro-Hungarian army for military service drafted and served in Austria , the Ukraine and Serbia . He experienced the end of the war in Serbia. After arriving home after three months of walking, he decided - against his father's will - to devote himself to art.

He presented himself to the art academy in Vienna with a few drawings and watercolors and was rejected. He traveled on to Prague , hoping to get a visa there to study in France . After this plan also failed, he enrolled in Peter Bomse's drawing class at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts . But his real interest was in sculpture . After initially being rejected by Jan Stursa , he followed his advice and began working with plaster models.

Frustrated by his slow progress, he returned to Czernowitz at the end of 1922 and worked as a stonemason for tombs. In his hometown he met Gusti (Gutza) Korn, whom he married in 1924. His parents-in-law set up a studio for him on the outskirts of Chernivtsi. However, his sculptures found only a few buyers and for financial reasons he had to concentrate on smaller works such as woodcuts , drawings and watercolors.

In 1927 Bernhard Reder took part in an international architectural competition for a building for the Columbus Monument in Santo Domingo . He received a recognition award for his designs.

In the following year he went to Prague again for a few months and distributed drawings and woodcuts to friends and art collectors. After his departure, friends organized a first solo exhibition of some of his works in Prague's Rudolfinum , which was well received by art critics.

In Chernivtsi, which had belonged to Romania since the end of the First World War , anti-Semitic riots intensified at the end of the 1920s . Bernhard Reder and his in-laws were threatened several times, sometimes with armed violence, and Reder lost his license as a stonemason.

Prague 1930 to 1937

Sandstone sculpture in the garden of Villa Traub in Prague, 1930

In 1930 the couple went to Prague and Bernhard Reder rented a former exhibition pavilion as a studio. In the early 1930s, he mainly devoted himself to sculpture. He took on commissioned work for friends and acquaintances, so u. a. for the leather manufacturer Edmund Traub, for whom he created sculptures for the gardens of his villa . The dominant theme of his work at this time was the female nude .

Prague was an international cultural center in the early 1930s. A large exhibition with sculptures by French sculptors made a big impression on Reder and the meeting with Aristide Maillol was to be the beginning of a lifelong friendship. His friends in Prague included intellectuals, writers and artists such as Emil Filla , Endre Nemes and HG Adler . In Prague he taught sculpting to young artists and friends, such as Bettina Gross. In 1934 the Reders went on a six-month trip through Italy , Spain and France. They spent several days doing this in Aristide Maillol's house in Banyuls-sur-Mer . This stay strengthened Reder's decision to move to France.

In addition to sculptures, Reder also created some drawings and bronzes during his time in Prague. a. 1934 The Bather or Two Seated Women . During this time he also began to deal with architecture. He designed u. a. an exhibition building for sculptures based on the "volumetric" principles of his own work and a round, multi-storey building held by caryatids .

In Prague, the Cubist painter Emil Filla, who was president of the Mánes Artists' Association, arranged for a retrospective of Reder's works to be held in the Mánes Gallery on Masarykovo nábřeží . The exhibition with 38 stone and wood sculptures as well as bronze works, which was enthusiastically received by national and international art critics, took place in 1935 and was a great artistic and financial success for Reder.

France 1937 to 1941

Encouraged by the success, Reder moved to France in 1937 and rented a villa near Le Vesinet , where he also set up his studio. Immediately after the start of the Second World War , the Reder couple fled to the countryside and initially lived with friends in Le Puy-en-Velay . They returned to Paris in early 1940. On the initiative of Assia Rubenstein, a highly regarded exhibition of works by Czech artists was shown in the Wildenstein Gallery in Paris in early 1940, including 16 stone sculptures by Bernhard Reder.

After the Wehrmacht marched into France, the Reders fled to Le Puy again in May 1940 and were hidden by an architect friend of theirs. The sculptures in the Wildenstein exhibition were brought to safety in Paris, while the atelier in Le Vesinet was devastated by the Germans and all sculptures were smashed. After the partition of France , the couple fled to the unoccupied zone in southern France and tried to obtain an exit visa to the United States . It is said that Reder immediately immortalized spontaneous ideas for his works of art. While fleeing on a crowded train, he drew a sketch of a fleeing horse on a paper napkin that was kept in his studio until his death.

When the couple in Le Puy was asked by the authorities to register for a transport to Poland, they immediately fled to southern France. In hiding, Bernard Reder (in France he changed his first name) worked intensively on two woodcut series Apocalypse and Gargantua and Pantagruel based on a cycle of novels by François Rabelais .

Aristide Maillol tried to get an exit visa for Bernard Reder and his wife from acquaintances and friends in the United States. The visa was granted but did not arrive at the consulate in Lyon . The Reder couple turned to the Quaker Varian Fry of the Emergency Rescue Committee in Marseille to allow them to leave France after all. They finally got a visa for Cuba through friends . On the way to embarkation for Lisbon , the couple were arrested while illegally crossing the border in Spain , separated and detained in prisons in Madrid . After three weeks of intervention by friends and Varian Fry, they were released and expelled from the country. They traveled by train to Lisbon, from where they emigrated to Havana on a sailing ship in autumn 1941 .

Cuba 1941 to 1943

The couple lived with friends in Havana. Immediately upon arrival, they reapplied for a visa to the United States. In Havana, Reder joined a group of artists and also worked as a stone and wood sculptor in exile. He created nude figures in various poses and woodcuts that were inspired by Giotto di Bondone's frescoes in Padua . In Havana, his work was shown in two exhibitions - woodcuts at the university and sculptures and woodcuts in the Lyceum. In the spring of 1943, the couple received an entry visa to the United States. On February 23, 1943, they flew to Miami and then took the train to New York .

America 1943 to 1954

The first stop in New York for several weeks was the Benjamin Franklin Hotel near Broadway . In the absence of a studio and material, Reder drew in the hotel and made numerous tempera drawings. In mid-1943, he received a generous scholarship that enabled him to buy a small house in Forest Hill. He set up his studio in the garage of the house. While working on a stone sculpture, Reder pinched his arms and was partially paralyzed for seven months . His wounding forced him to stop working on the stone sculptures. He worked again on woodcuts and drawings and made numerous smaller bronzes, which he sold to private collectors. He was represented with six works in the exhibition European Artists in America , which was shown at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1945 . After the end of the Second World War, Sturgis Ingersoll organized the transfer of the sculptures saved in Paris in 1940.

In 1948, Reder and his wife received American citizenship . Three years later the Grace Borgenicht Gallery in New York took over the marketing of his works of art and organized an exhibition with his sculptures, bronzes and drawings once a year. Renowned museums such as the Whitney Museum of American Art or the Museum of Modern Art regularly acquired works by Reder. In 1953 he decided to go to Italy to perfect his handicraft technique.

Italy 1954 to 1958

In July 1954, Bernard Reder left America with his wife and moved into an apartment with a studio on the outskirts of Rome . During his stay in Italy he created numerous large plaster sculptures and numerous bronzes, which he had made in a foundry in Verona . He created many of the bronzes using a lost wax technique learned in Italy.

In 1956 the couple moved to Florence after meeting a patron who provided them with a large apartment with a studio and a private garden in the Palazzo Torrigiani. Out of gratitude, Reder decorated the Palazzo Torrigiani with sculptures and bronzes. The Galleria d'Arte Moderna in Florence showed an exhibition of graphic works in 1956; a year later the gallery held a retrospective on the occasion of his 60th birthday. During their stay in Italy, the couple made three trips to the USA.

America 1958 to 1963

In April 1958, Reder received an offer from the World House Galleries to take over the marketing of his works of art. In December 1958, the couple went back to New York, where Bernard Reder rented an apartment with a studio. Back in America he created several sculptures of costumed figures or decorated heads, such as the head of an Amazon with a diadem , Pallas Athena with the raven or the brush of a flower girl . His new works were bought by numerous museums specializing in modern art. During the serious illness of his wife at the end of 1959, Reder threw himself into work and created u. a. his most famous bronze Aaron with the tabernacle . In the spring of 1960 Reder received the 10,000 dollars doped scholarship for sculpture of the Ford Foundation .

After his wife recovered from her illness, the couple returned to Italy in the summer of 1960. In the last three years of his life, Reder worked intensively in New York on stone sculptures, bronzes and drawings and devoted himself again to his architectural projects. Although he was not a trained architect, his architectural designs found their way into the professional world. a. through Ieoh Ming Pei recognition. He drew designs for a round theater with transparent floors, for transportable single-family houses and plans for a coastal town of Gutzala . A trip to Europe on an ocean liner inspired him to design plans for a passenger ship in 1960.

In 1961, the Whitney Museum of Modern Art was the first artist to dedicate a solo exhibition to Bernard Reder on all three floors of the house.

Bernard Reder died in New York on September 7, 1963.

Works

Sandstone sculpture in the garden of Villa Traub in Prague, 1930

Woman with ball and pyramid in Tel Aviv

Numerous museums, u. a. the National Gallery of Art (95 exhibits), the Whitney Museum of American Art (18 exhibits), the Tate Gallery or the Museum of Modern Art have stone and wood sculptures, drawings, etchings, woodcuts, watercolors and engravings by Bernhard in their holdings Reder.

Woodcuts (selection)

• Vogelbraut , 1951
• Olympia , 1951
• Two centaurs , 1951
• Witch and Owl , 1951
• Woman with red gloves and trumpet , 1952
• Woman with a Veil , 1952
• Seated woman with black gloves , 1961
• Woman with a Blue Hat , 1961
• Woman with a helmet , 1961

Woodcut series (selection)

• Bust and torso , 1934
• Gargantua and Pantagruel , 1939
• Apocalypse , 1940
• Legends of Noah , 1948
• The Seven Deadly Sins , 1954
• Song of Songs , 1954
• Susanna and the two old people , 1954

Stone sculptures (selection)

• Crouching woman , Bohemian sandstone, 1930
• Bathing , Bohemian sandstone, 1933
• Wounded woman , Italian limestone 1943–47
• Bust of Centaur , Limestone Alabama, 1950

Tin and bronze sculptures (selection)

• Two bathers , tin, 1934
• Two seated women , bronze, 1934
• Amazon head with diadem , bronze, 1954
• Noah's head , bronze, 1954
• Bust of a flower girl , bronze, 1955
• Cello player , bronze, 1955
• Blooming cat , bronze, 1955
• The Good Samaritan , bronze, 1955
• Hasid with bird , bronze, 1955
• Minotaur and Siren , bronze, 1955
• Pallas Athena with raven , bronze, 1955
• Trumpeter gargoyle , bronze, 1956
• Adam and Eve , bronze, 1957
• Cow on the trapeze , bronze, 1957
• Noah's wife carries two owls , bronze, 1957
• Nude with ball and pyramid , bronze, 1958
• Aaron with the tabernacle , bronze, 1959
• Harpist I + II , bronze, 1960
• Organ player I + II , bronze, 1959–1960
• Piano player , bronze, 1960
• Seated trumpeter , bronze, 1960
• Astronomer I + II , bronze, 1960

Paintings, drawings (selection)

• Crouching woman , charcoal, 1933
• Mother with child , pastel, 1937
• Bride and Bull , Aquinta, 1956
• Chess , oil painting, 1957
• Woman with a hat , oil painting, 1957
• Medieval city , Indian ink, 1957
• The Bride , oil painting, 1958
• Bride with red gloves , oil painting, 1958
• Nudes , ink and watercolors, 1958
• Harbor scene , oil painting, 1959
• Woman with a veil, Indian ink, 1959

Architectural projects (selection)

• Design of the exhibition building for sculptures , 1946
• Model of the theater in a sphere , 1927/61
• Model of the exhibition building for volume sculptures with a volumetric approach , 1959
• Model of a single-family pavilion , 1959
• Model of the coastal town of Gutzala , 1960
• Model of the passenger ship Ghitala , 1960

Book illustrations (selection)

• Hanan J. Ayalti: Yiddish Proverbs , New York, 1949 (six woodcuts)
• Ephraim Auerbach: White City , New York, 1953 (five woodcuts)
• Bernard Reder: The Legends of Noah , Florence, 1956 (ten woodcuts)

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions (selection)

• 1928: Rudolphinum, Prague (watercolors)
• 1935: Mánes Gallery, Prague (sculptures)
• 1940: Galerie de Berri, Paris (woodcuts, pastels, drawings, small sculptures)
• 1941: Lyceum Gallery, Havana (sculptures, woodcuts, drawings)
• 1941: University, Havana (woodcuts)
• 1943: Weyhe Gallery, New York (drawings, woodcuts)
• 1950: Philadelphia Art Alliance (sculptures, woodcuts, drawings)
• 1950: Jewish National Museum Bezalel , Jerusalem (woodcuts)
• 1950: Tel Aviv Museum of Art (woodcuts)
• 1951, 1952, 1953: Grace Borgenicht Gallery, New York (woodcuts, prints, small sculptures)
• 1953: Dominion Gallery, Montreal (woodcuts)
• 1953: Art Institute of Chicago (woodcuts)
• 1956, 1957: Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Florence (woodcuts, sculptures)
• 1956: The Contemporaries, New York (woodcuts)
• 1957: Palazzo Torrigiani, Florence (sculptures)
• 1959: World House Galleries, New York (sculptures)
• 1961: Whitney Museum of Modern Art, New York (woodcuts, pastels, drawings, sculptures, prints)

Group exhibitions (selection)

• 1940: Wildenstein Gallery, Paris (woodcuts, pastels, drawings, small sculptures)
• 1945: Whitney Museum of American Art, New York: European Artists in America
• 1951, 1952, 1953, 1958, 1960: Whitney Museum of American Art, New York: Annual Exhibition: Contemporary Sculpture and Drawings

literature

• 70 Sculpturs , Life Magazin, June 20, 1949, p. 113
• Bernard Reder, John Rewald: Sculptures and Woodcuts , Sansoni, 1957, 71 pp.
• John IH Baur: Bernard Reder: Exhibition and catalog by the Whitney Museum of American Art . New York 1961, 120 pp.
• Rose Ausländer : Bernard Reder - Sensational rise of the artist. Tel Aviv 1961
• Cleveland Amory, Earl Blackwell: Celebrity Register: An Irreverent Compendium of American Quotable Notables. Harper & Row, New York 1963, p. 512
• World House Galleries: In Memoriam Bernard Reder, 1897–1963: An Exhibition of Sculpture and Graphic Works , New York, 1964
• The Tel-Aviv Museum: Bernard Reder: Helena Rubinstein Pavilion , Tel-Aviv, 1968, 47 pp.
• Alexander Hejl: Neznámý (?) Sochař Bernhard Reder . In: KÁMEN 6, issue. 3, 2000, 69–73 (Czech)

Web links

• Works by Bernard Reder on art.net

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c} John IH Baur: Bernard Reder: Exhibition and catalog by the Whitney Museum of American Art . Ed .: Whitney Museum of American Art. New York 1961, p. 12 .
2. ^ NYPL, Prints With / Out Pressure: American Relief Prints from the 1940s through the 1960s. June 13, 2009, accessed August 18, 2019 . 
3. ^ ^{A b c} John IH Baur: Bernard Reder: Exhibition and catalog by the Whitney Museum of American Art . Ed .: Whitney Museum of American Art. New York 1961, p. 13 .
4. ↑ ^{a b} Ve Wortnerově domě našly útočiště plastiky známého neznámého Bernarda Redera . May 25, 2007 ( denik.cz [accessed August 18, 2019]).
5. ↑ Bruno Paul: House Traub near Prague . In: Interior decoration: my home, my pride; the entire art of living in pictures and words . tape 46 , no. 4 , 1935, pp. 112-126 .
6. ^ Claude Marks: World artists: an HW Wilson biographical dictionary . tape 1: 1950-1980 . The HW Wilson Company, New York 1984, ISBN 0-8242-0707-6 , pp. 716 f .
7. ^ Peter Filkins: HG Adler: a life in many worlds . Oxford University Press, New York 2019, ISBN 978-0-19-022238-3 .
8. ^ ^{A b c} John IH Baur: Bernard Reder: Exhibition and catalog by the Whitney Museum of American Art . Ed .: Whitney Museum of American Art. New York 1961, p. 15 .
9. ^ John IH Baur: Bernard Reder: Exhibition and catalog by the Whitney Museum of American Art . Ed .: Whitney Museum of American Art. New York 1961, p. 16 .
10. ^ John IH Baur: Bernard Reder: Exhibition and catalog by the Whitney Museum of American Art . Ed .: Whitney Museum of American Art. New York 1961, p. 17 .
11. ↑ ^{a b c d e} John IH Baur: Bernard Reder: Exhibition and catalog by the Whitney Museum of American Art . Ed .: Whitney Museum of American Art. New York 1961, p. 18 .
12. ^ John IH Baur: Bernard Reder: Exhibition and catalog by the Whitney Museum of American Art . Ed .: Whitney Museum of American Art. New York 1961, p. 19 .
13. ^ ^{A b} John IH Baur: Bernard Reder: Exhibition and catalog by the Whitney Museum of American Art . Ed .: Whitney Museum of American Art. New York 1961, p. 23 .
14. ^ ^{A b} John IH Baur: Bernard Reder: Exhibition and catalog by the Whitney Museum of American Art . Ed .: Whitney Museum of American Art. New York 1961, p. 26 .
15. ^ ^{A b} John IH Baur: Bernard Reder: Exhibition and catalog by the Whitney Museum of American Art . Ed .: Whitney Museum of American Art. New York 1961, p. 27 .
16. ^ John IH Baur: Bernard Reder: Exhibition and catalog by the Whitney Museum of American Art . Ed .: Whitney Museum of American Art. New York 1961, p. 28 .
17. ^ John IH Baur: Bernard Reder: Exhibition and catalog by the Whitney Museum of American Art . Ed .: Whitney Museum of American Art. New York 1961, p. 30 .
18. ↑ Flora Miller Biddle: Whitney women and the museum they made: a family memior. Arcade, New York 2001, ISBN 1-55970-594-9 , pp. 88 f .
19. ^ National Gallery of Art: Bernard Reder. Retrieved August 13, 2019 . 
20. ^ Whitney Museum: Bernard Reder. Accessed August 13, 2019 . 
21. ^ Tate: Bernard Reder 1897-1963. Tate, accessed August 13, 2019 (UK English). 
22. ↑ Bernard Reder. Torso. 1938 | MoMA. Retrieved August 13, 2019 .