RUDOLF WACKER
30 Oct 2024 - 16 Feb 2025
It has been a long-standing desire to see the work of Rudolf Wacker (1893–1939), one of the foremost representatives of New Objectivity in Austria, presented in Vienna. The last exhibition took place at the Österreichische Galerie im Belvedere in 1958. In 2024, the Leopold Museum will finally bring this internationally renowned painter back to the capital, also due to Rudolf Leopold’s high regard for him.
Wacker's work was primarily created in Bregenz, the westernmost part of newly founded Austria in 1918. He has been honored in numerous exhibitions in Vorarlberg and beyond in recent decades. Despite his European significance, he was forced by the times to retreat to the provincial Bodensee region between the world wars.
Wacker, the son of a Tyrolean master builder, grew up in a bourgeois environment and received art education in Vienna. His studies in Weimar, including with Albin Egger-Lienz, were interrupted by military service. After his captivity, he tried to establish himself in Berlin and Vienna from 1920, but returned in 1924 with his wife Ilse Moebius to his father's villa.
Through extensive exhibitions and travels, Wacker sought to escape provincial constraints. He joined the artist association "Der Kreis" at Lake Constance, where he connected with artists like Hans Purrmann and Conrad Felixmüller.
Wacker's work focuses on the reality of his surroundings, including landscapes, female nudes, and self-portraits. His painting style evolved from an expressive, color-intensive approach in the 1920s to a precise, graphic objectivity after 1928. His works can also be interpreted as encrypted messages.
The exhibition at the Leopold Museum, featuring numerous loans from private and institutional collections, provides a comprehensive overview of Wacker's complex oeuvre, complemented by selected drawings and works by artists such as Otto Dix and Franz Lenk.
