Leopold Museum " Wacker und Backhausen"

Leopold Museum " Wacker and Backhausen"

Two new exhibitions at the Leopold Museum in Vienna, one to Rudolf Wacker, one of the leading representatives of the New Objectivity in Austria , and the other to the company Joh. Backhausen & Söhne, which was founded in 1849 and is one of the most important manufacturers of furniture and decorative fabrics counts in the history of Vienna. The first with the titleRudolf Wacker. Magic and the Abyss of Realityruns from October 30, 2024 to February 16, 2025. The exhibition, curated by Marianne Hussl-Hörmann and Laura Feurle, is a significant event for the Austrian art world because it brings one of the leading representatives of New Objectivity back to the stage. The first and only exhibition of his works in Vienna took place in 1958 at the Austrian Gallery Belvedere After almost fifty years it is now the Leopold Museum that is bringing the works of the internationally renowned painter back to the Austrian capital and with them the great appreciation of Rudolf Leopold's expression for the artist.

Rudolf Wacker's career took place between the two world wars (from 1921 to his early death in 1939). Bregenz in Vorarlberg, the westernmost federal state of Austria. Coming from a middle-class family, the son of a Tyrolean master craftsman took art lessons in Vienna and began studying in Weimar with artists such as Albin Egger-Lienz, until his career was abruptly interrupted by his conscription into the army. After his return in 1920 from five years of imprisonment in Siberia, he tried in vain to establish himself as an artist in Berlin and later in Vienna. In 1924 he returned to his father's villa with his wife Ilse Moebius, who was his most important role model. Although he lived in the provinces far from the artistic centers, Wacker constantly sought contact with European cultural life, took part in exhibitions in Vorarlberg, Tyrol and various German cities and made frequent trips to Germany and Switzerland. He was also a member of the cross-border art association Der Kreis, which brought him into contact with other artists such as Hans Purrmann, Conrad Felixmüller and Adolf Dietrich.