Rudolf Bauer (1889-1953) was one of the originators of non-objective painting. This particular brand of abstraction emphasized total absence of forms relating to the objective world. Bauer was born in Lindenwald, Germany (now Poland) and took up art-making from an early age. He began supporting himself as a cartoonist and caricaturist, publishing works in the popular magazines of the day, which he would do off and on until the mid-1920s.

Around 1915 he became involved in Der Sturm, a magazine and gallery run by Herwarth Walden. Walden promoted Bauer's work alongside the work of Vasily Kandinsky, Franz Marc, and Marc Chagall, among others. He also met Hilla Rebay, a baroness and fellow artist, through Der Sturm. Their l...