THEODOR BAIERL (1881-1932) Biography
MUNICH SECESSION (1892-1913)

Provenance

Bruno Baierl, the artist's son; given in lieu of funds borrowed to J. H. Hopwood 1938-9
By descent in the family; to 1998

Description / Expertise

Living and working in Munich throughout his life, Theodor Baierl would have intimately studied the magnificent towering altar pieces by Peter Paul Rubens in the Alte Pinakothek. Baierl himself regularly received church commissions for frescoes, altar paintings and Stations of the Cross and turned to the great masters for inspiration. Ruben’s The Last Judgement(1) almost certainly had a profound effect on Baierl and in this extraordinary drawing Baierl depicts figures in an intimate embrace on their journey toward heaven, which mirrors Rubens own vision of souls called before Christ.

(1)Grosses Jüngstes Gericht, Bayerische Staatsgemaldesammlung, inventory number 890