Hausmann, Raoul, 1886-1971

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Austrian artist (1886-1971), one of the founders of the Dada movement; active in Berlin 1912-1933; settled in France 1938-1971.

From the description of Raoul Hausmann correspondence, 1909-1971 (bulk 1960s) (Getty Research Institute). WorldCat record id: 79720742

Biographical/Historical Note

1886: Born on June 12th in Wein; trains with his father Viktor Hausmann, an academic painter.

1900: Moves with his parents to Berlin where he dedicates himself to the study of painting and assists his father with the Hamburg City Hall murals.

1912: Takes part in the first German Herbstsalon des Sturm and begins working for the Expressionist newspaper Der Sturm .

1917-1918: Is employed by the leftist-pacifist newspapers Die Freie Straßs and Die Aktion . Co-founds Club Dada, Berlin; invents the optophonetic poem and photomontage; publishes his first Dada Manifesto; organizes the first Dada Soireen in Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, and Prague, with Huelsenbeck, Heartfield, Grosz, Jung, Höch.

1919-1920: Edits volume No.3 of the journal Dada (Malik-Verlag) with Grosz and Heartfield and organizes the Große Internationale Dada-Messe at the Galerie Nierendorf, Berlin. Breaks with Grosz and Heartfield after they join the Communist Party, effectively ending Club Dada.

1921: Holds an Anti-Dada Abend in Prague with Kurt Schwitters; formulates his article "Presentismus gegen den Puffkeismus der teuschen Seele," and signs the Aufruf zur Elementaren Kunst with Arp, Maholy-Nagy and Istvan.

1922: Establishes close contact with the Constructivists and circle of the Hungarian exile newspaper MA (Lajos Kassak). Takes part in activities of Progressive Artists in Düsselsdorf and Köln. Relinquishes painting and dedicates himself to the technical investigation of electro-acoustical optics; invents the "optophone," a device that synchronizes sound and light waves (this invention was rejected in Berlin but patented in London, 1935).

1923-1930: Publishes articles investigating the organic conception of art and social science; works for the satirical newspaper Die Pleite ; begins his novel Hyle and undertakes systematic work in photography.

1931-1932: Delivers the opening lecture at the photographic exhibition in the Kunstbibliothek, Berlin; publishes several articles on the subject of photographic theory, most notably "Wie sieht der Fotograf? -Gespräch zwischen Raoul Hausmann und Werner Gräff," Das Deutsche Lichtbild (Berlin, 1932).

1933-1936: Flees Germany on March 1st to the island of Ibiza, where he undertakes intensive photographic analysis of ethnological themes, archeology and indigenous architecture. Completes Hyle and begins publishing photographs in the Swiss journal Camera and in Man Ray's album Nus .

1936: Flees Spain for Zürich and later immigrates to Prague, establishing contact with the Czech avantgarde and exiled Germans; experiments with infrared photography.

1938: Returns to Paris; continues publishing his photographs, and establishes contact with Moholy-Nagy to arrange a publication of his photos in the US.

1939: Upon outbreak of war, flees to Peyrat-le-Château (Haute-Vienne) where he teaches languages and eventually finds refuge in the French town of Limoges (1944).

1945: Re-establishes contact and correspondence with his close friends (Moholy-Nagy, Schwitters, Hans Richter, Richard Huelsenbeck); plans with Schwitters to establish an avantgarde journal called PIN ; returns to painting and the production of abstract photograms and photo-pictograms.

1948: Begins the publication of numerous articles on the subject of modern poetry in French literary journals.

1953: Exhibits his abstract photo-experiments in the Kunstschule Saarbrücken with the assistance of Otto Steinert.

1958: Takes part in the famous Dada exhibition in Frankfurt-Düsseldorf which instigated the Fluxus movement.

1967: First large retrospective of his artwork, in the Modern Museum, Stockholm.

1969: Publishes MELANOgraphie, a collection of photographic light experiments from 1931; publishes Hyle .

1970: Publishes a series of articles from 1920-1970 under the title Sensorialité excentrique in cooperation with Henri Chopin.

1971: Publishes his final book Sagemorim . Dies on February 1st in Limoges, France.

From the guide to the Raoul Hausmann correspondence, 1909-1971, 1960-1970, (Getty Research Institute)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Beckmann, Hannes, 1909-1977. Papers, 1928-1977. Getty Research Institute
creatorOf Poupard-Lieussou, Yves. Correspondence and collected papers on Dada and Surrealism, 1905-1984 (bulk 1956-1979). Getty Research Institute
creatorOf Hausmann, Raoul, 1886-1971. Raoul Hausmann : artist file : study photographs and reproductions of works of art with accompanying documentation 1930?-1990 [graphic] [compiled by staff of The Museum of Modern Art, New York]. Frick Art Reference Library of The Frick Collection
referencedIn Raoul Hausmann : vertical file. Centre canadien d'architecture, | Canadian Centre for Architecture | CCA
creatorOf Kleinschmidt, Hans J. Research files, 1902-1975. Getty Research Institute
referencedIn Hausmann, Raoul : [miscellaneous ephemeral material]. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thomas J. Watson Library
referencedIn Janco, Marcel, 1895-1984. Letters : Tel Aviv, to Henri Chopin, 1971-1984. Getty Research Institute
creatorOf Huelsenbeck, Richard, 1892-1974. Richard Huelsenbeck papers, 1910-1978. Getty Research Institute
referencedIn Eugène and Maria Jolas Papers Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
creatorOf Valançay, Robert. Robert Valançay correspondence, 1920-1985 (bulk 1930-1949). Getty Research Institute
creatorOf Hausmann, Raoul, 1886-1971. Raoul Hausmann correspondence, 1909-1971 (bulk 1960s) Getty Research Institute
creatorOf Raoul Hausmann correspondence, 1909-1971, 1960-1970 Getty Research Institute
referencedIn Gropius, Walter, 1883-1969. Papers, 1925-1969 (bulk: 1937-1969) Houghton Library
referencedIn Ruth Fischer papers, 1925-1961 (inclusive) 1940-1961 (bulk) Houghton Library
referencedIn Eugène and Maria Jolas Papers Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
referencedIn Robert Valançay correspondence, 1921-1978 Getty Research Institute
creatorOf Roh, Franz, 1890-1965. Franz Roh papers, ca. 1911-1965. Getty Research Institute
referencedIn Yves Poupard-Lieussou correspondence and collected papers on Dada and Surrealism, 1905-1984, 1956-1979 Getty Research Institute
referencedIn Richard Huelsenbeck papers, 1910-1978 Getty Research Institute
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Beckmann, Hannes, 1909-1977. person
correspondedWith Chopin, Henri person
associatedWith Chopin, Henri person
correspondedWith Chopin, Henri—Correspondence person
correspondedWith Fischer, Ruth, 1895- person
associatedWith Garnier, Pierre person
correspondedWith Garnier, Pierre person
correspondedWith Garnier, Pierre—Correspondence person
correspondedWith Gropius, Walter, 1883-1969 person
associatedWith Hausmann, Elfriede person
associatedWith Hausmann, Elfriede. person
associatedWith Hausmann, Vera. person
associatedWith Heartfield, John, 1891-1968. person
associatedWith Höch, Hannah, 1889- person
associatedWith Höch, Hannah, 1889-1978. person
associatedWith Huelsenbeck, Richard, 1892-1974. person
correspondedWith Janco, Marcel, 1895-1984. person
associatedWith Jolas, Eugène, 1894-1952. person
associatedWith Karpel, Bernard, 1911- person
associatedWith Kleinschmidt, Hans J. person
associatedWith Maciunas, George, 1931-1978. person
associatedWith Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.) corporateBody
associatedWith Poupard-Lieussou, Yves. person
correspondedWith Reichardt, Jasia person
associatedWith Reichardt, Jasia person
correspondedWith Reichardt, Jasia—Correspondence person
associatedWith Roh, Franz, 1890-1965. person
correspondedWith Schwitters, Kurt, 1887-1948 person
correspondedWith Sulzbach, Renée person
associatedWith Sulzbach, Renée person
correspondedWith Sulzbach, Renée—Correspondence person
associatedWith Themerson, Stefan. person
associatedWith Valançay, Robert. person
associatedWith Valançay, Robert person
Place Name Admin Code Country
England
Subject
Art, Modern
Art
Art, Austrian
Assemblage (Art)
Avant-garde (Aesthetics)
Concrete poetry
Concrete poetry
Dadaism
Exiles
Expatriate artists
Fluxus (Group of artists)
Photomontage
Sound poetry
Occupation
Activity

Person

Birth 1886-07-12

Death 1971-02-01

Austrians

English,

German

Information

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SNAC ID: 40174161