The Hagenbund

Following its initial positioning between the avant-gardist Secession and the more conservative Künstlerhaus, the artists’ association Hagenbund, founded in 1900, established itself in the 1920s as the “most radical group” (Robert Musil, 1922) amongst Viennese artists’ associations. Devoid of an artistic manifesto, with a liberal attitude towards politics and religion and an excellent pan-European network, the Hagenbund was a melting pot for exponents of different genres and styles. From 1902, the Zedlitzhalle in Vienna’s 1st district served as the group’s venue not only for its own, innovative exhibitions but also for the more than 150 guest presentations of Austrian and international art. When the National Socialists rose to power in 1938, the 38-year history of the Hagenbund, which over time counted in excess of 260 members, came to an abrupt end. Numerous members, including Georg (1897–1966) and Bettina Ehrlich-Bauer (1903–1985), Josef Floch (1894–1977), Carry Hauser (1895–1985), Lilly Steiner (1884–1961) and Otto Rudolf Schatz (1900–1961), were forced to emigrate, while others, like Robert Kohl (1891‒1944) and Fritz Schwarz-Waldegg (1889–1942), were murdered in concentration camps. The following selection of works by Hagenbund artists, who were often only members of the association for a few years, shows the heterogeneity of their work.