Hans Theo Baumann

Hans Theo Baumann

Hans Theo Baumann was a German painter who was born in 1897 and died in 1984. He was associated with the New Objectivity movement, which emerged in Germany in the aftermath of World War I. This movement rejected the romanticism and idealism of the previous generation and instead sought to create art that was grounded in reality. Baumann's works often featured the urban and rural landscapes of Lower Saxony and his hometown of Hanover. He was particularly interested in depicting the effects of modernization on these landscapes and the people who lived in them. Baumann's paintings were characterized by their dark, sombre tones and their focus on the mundane aspects of everyday life. He believed in painting that expressed the immediacy of experience and his works challenged traditional ideas of pictorial order. His portraits and still lifes were particularly powerful, expressing his post-WWI experience and alienation. Despite his association with the New Objectivity movement, Baumann's works were not purely representational. He often used abstraction and distortion to convey his emotional response to his subject matter. This approach can be seen in his painting The Salutation (1922), which depicts a group of people gathered around a table. The figures are distorted and their faces are obscured, creating a sense of unease and dislocation. Baumann's work was not widely recognized during his lifetime, but he has since been recognized as an important figure in the history of German art. His paintings are now held in the collections of major museums around the world.

Hans Theo Baumann, German painter, New Objectivity movement, Lower Saxony, Hanover, modernization, everyday life, abstraction, distortion, emotional response

— Joseph Edwards