Herbert & Joella Bayer
Joining Forces in the Service of Art
Exhibition view, Herbert & Joella Bayer, 2022 
Exhibition view, Herbert & Joella Bayer, 2022 
In this show, the Lentos puts its Bayer Archive centre stage. This archive is one of the most comprehensive collections in Europe featuring works by this truly universal, Upper Austrian born artist.
For the first time the exhibition also showcases his collaboration with his wife, Joella. In her capacities as manager and donor, she made a significant contribution to Herbert’s success.
Herbert Bayer (1900 – 1985) is considered the epitome of the modern universal type of artist. His career took him from Linz to Germany and the United States, where he continued his Bauhaus inspired work for international corporations, museums, and the tourism industry. As an architect, designer, painter, sculptor and landscape designer, he shaped the townscape of such places as Aspen, where the Resnick Center for Herbert Bayer Studies opened this year.
Joella (1907 – 2004), daughter of the famous writer, artist and feminist Mina Loy (1882 – 1966), not only took charge of her husband’s estate after his death, but she was also his muse and artistic mentor during his lifetime and a source of inspiration for Dalí and Man Ray. She had a remarkable talent for bringing together different personalities from the worlds of business and art.
The exhibition puts a unique focus on Bayer’s success as a commercial designer in Germany and the United States. Photos from private US Archives and by Bayer’s first wife, Irene Bayer Hecht (1898 – 1991), and Ise Gropius (1897 – 1983) of Bauhaus as well as Mina Loy supplement the Lentos’s holdings. These are comprised of more than 200 works generously donated to the Lentos between 1986 and 2004 by Herbert and Joella Bayer. Some are more recent acquisitions.
Curator: Elisabeth Nowak-Thaller
Exhibition Design: Nicole Six & Paul Petritsch
Interactive Exhibition part
Let’s redesign the exhibition space! Inspired by Bauhaus ideas, a large part of the show invites visitors to use and design it themselves. Elements of this interactive area of the exhibition can be used, moved and changed. In this way, the exhibition space is created anew again and again.
| Date | Title | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Sat 14.02 | Lentos Atelier Children and young people between the ages of 6 and 12 have the opportunity to discover works of art, work creatively and try out different techniques in the Lentos studio. | 10:00 am–12:00 pm |
| Sat 14.02 | Los Lentoninios Every second Saturday each month (in the holidays: Tuesday) our youngest visitors are cordially invited to the Donauatelier to give their fantasy and creativity free rein. | 3:00 pm–4:30 pm |
| Sat 14.02 | Guided tour in Austrian Sign Language (ÖGS) of the exhibition The World Without Us Guided tours with an Austrian Sign Language (ÖGS) interpreter. Duration: 1 hour. Free for people with hearing impairments. No registration required. | 4:00 pm–5:00 pm |
| Sun 15.02 | Public tour: Being a Girl*!? Duration: 60 minutes, max. 25 participants, guided tour ticket €4 (plus admission). No registration required (“first come, first served”). | 4:00 pm–5:00 pm |
| Tue 17.02 | Public tour: Being a Girl*!? + The Collection Duration: 60 minutes, max. 25 participants, guided tour ticket €4 (plus admission). No registration required (“first come, first served”). | 4:00 pm–5:00 pm |
| Thu 19.02 | Public tour: Being a Girl*!? Duration: 60 minutes, max. 25 participants, guided tour ticket €4 (plus admission). No registration required (“first come, first served”). | 6:00 pm–7:00 pm |
| Thu 19.02 | The Room: Becoming Visible in Public Space — Sticker Workshop with Magdalena Zilcher (art educator) as part of “Museum Total” Using felt-tip pens, white sticker rolls, and a black-and-white thermal printer, we create our own stickers while exploring what public space means to us — and where we feel represented within it. The exhibition “Mädchen sein?!”* serves as a starting point for reflecting on visibility and participation. | 6:00 pm–8:00 pm |
| Sat 21.02 | Lentos Atelier Children and young people between the ages of 6 and 12 have the opportunity to discover works of art, work creatively and try out different techniques in the Lentos studio. | 10:00 am–12:00 pm |
| Sat 21.02 | A Studio for All Age Groups (Fully booked) Every first Saturday each month we throw open the door of our “Atelier für Alle”, our studio for sessions with all age groups from 0 – 99. | 2:00 pm–4:00 pm |
| Sun 22.02 | Family Sunday Special for Museum Total Everyone is welcome: explore the museum playfully with our children’s activity booklet and stop by the open Donauatelier between 1:00 and 4:00 pm to get creative yourself. No registration required. Free admission with a Museum Total ticket. | 1:00 pm–4:00 pm |
Video
*Please understand that we offer our video production in German language only.
