Bark, 1988
Cibachrome Photograph, 16" x 20"
Franz Bader was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1903. He apprenticed as a bookseller but was forced to flee Austria in 1939 when Hitler's army invaded. He arrived in New York and then moved to Washington, D.C. Bader worked in and ultimately acquired a bookshop, where he showed art, primarily by local artists, in the back room. He was one of the few people exhibiting modern art in Washington at the time and was among the first to show the work of Gene Davis, Jacob Kainen, and Peter Milton. Bader described his own photography as his "third life," which he took up late in his career. He focused on elements and objects often overlooked, seeking out their inherent aesthetic qualities. Bader's work has been exhibited at museums and galleries in Washington and elsewhere. He died in 1994.
*Excerpted from Tools as Art: The Hechinger Collection, published by Harry N. Abrams Inc.