A painting purchased for just 70 euros from an antique dealer turned out to be a valuable work by forgotten Baden-Baden artist Vitus Staudacher when it appeared on the German TV show "Bares für Rares" in 2023. The wide-format panoramic painting ultimately sold for 1,500 euros on the show, twenty times more than what the art collector from Metzingen originally paid for it. As the 100th anniversary of Staudacher's death approaches on December 2nd, art historians are rediscovering this versatile artist who has largely faded from public memory.
The antique dealer who had the painting gathering dust in a corner of his shop had no idea of its true value. This represents a complete misjudgment by the dealer and an incredible bargain for the collector who spotted it. Vitus Staudacher (1850-1925), the Baden-Baden painter, had fallen into obscurity, with many of his works likely still collecting dust in attics and storage rooms. However, impressionist paintings and the works of plein air painters are experiencing renewed interest today, as evidenced by the success of the Liebermann exhibition at the Frieder Burda Museum.
According to Baden-Baden painter and art professor Johannes Hüppi, it's not presumptuous to place Vitus Staudacher near the impressionists. "His best paintings move very close to those of the greats of his time," Hüppi states. While Staudacher was artistically more connected to the mid-19th century, his later works contain impressionist elements. According to a biography by Joachim O. Engert from the Urban History Working Group, Staudacher is considered one of the first impressionist painters not only locally but in the entire Baden region.
Vitus Staudacher was born in November 1850 in Gaimersheim near Ingolstadt. His father made ropes, his mother sewed traditional costumes, and seven children needed to be supported on a tight budget. Although he helped at home, handicrafts weren't his calling. The local priest noticed that Vitus was doubly talented, both in music and painting. This artistic talent should have been obvious to the antique dealer who undervalued the panoramic painting.
The extremely rare wide-format Staudacher panorama painting made it onto the ZDF show "Bares für Rares" on August 7, 2023. Art expert Colmar Schulte-Golz was thoroughly enthusiastic about the work, and moderator Horst Lichter was delighted by the poppies in the cornfield. The panorama, painted in 1898, shows a grain field in the Rhine plain with a village and church in the background and the Black Forest in the distance. The right part of the painting features a path leading to a hill with trees, giving the image strong perspective and depth. Shadowy figures move through the field, bringing in the harvest.
The dealers on the show were equally enthusiastic, with one believing he was looking at a Max Liebermann work. The bidding escalated rapidly from 500 to 1,500 euros. However, Baden-Baden art dealer Stefan Decker, who operates at Luisenstraße 24, views the TV deal critically. "Sold far too cheaply," Decker says. At auctions, Staudacher works typically achieve between 1,500 and 5,000 euros. A few years ago, a spring painting featuring a girl brought in 10,000 euros, according to Decker, who currently has three Staudacher works for sale.
Staudacher's arrival in Baden-Baden was connected to his second talent: his exceptional musicality. He received violin lessons early and at 17 joined a Bavarian infantry regiment as part of the military band. When the Franco-Prussian War raged in 1870-71, Staudacher fought in Verdun. He survived the carnage uninjured, received a medal for bravery, and returned to the violin. At 23, his musical career began with the new theater orchestra at the Bavarian court.
The war left deep scars in Baden-Baden. The casino closed, the glamour faded, spa guests stayed away, and artists left town. The city fought against this exodus by founding a new municipal orchestra and recruiting musicians throughout the German Reich. Staudacher felt called and was hired at 24 as a violinist under conductor Miloslaw Koennemann. His skill must have been exceptional, as he immediately played second violin.
Staudacher apparently didn't lack self-confidence either, as indicated by a document filed in the city archives. Conductor Hein wrote to the mayor on November 15, 1900: "In today's rehearsal, orchestra member Staudacher confronted me in an impudent manner." The conductor demanded an apology before the entire orchestra, otherwise he would abandon his position. The trigger for the scandal: Hein believed Staudacher was playing incorrectly. Staudacher countered that he was playing correctly – the others were playing wrong. After a lengthy written dispute, they eventually reached an amicable agreement.
Thanks to his 1,600 Reichsmarks annual salary as a musician, Staudacher could afford an apartment at Stefanienstraße 41. There he met painter Gustav Amberger, who immediately recognized Staudacher's painting talent. Amberger advised the young musician to attend art school in Karlsruhe alongside his orchestra engagement. Staudacher followed this advice and trained for five years under landscape painter Ernst H. Richard.
In the 1880s, spa guests finally returned to Baden-Baden. Staudacher both performed music and painted, becoming wealthy and highly successful. He painted cityscapes, landscapes, and the Black Forest, depicting people at work. His early works recalled Carl Spitzweg, then he oriented himself toward the plein air painters of the Barbizon School in France, who are considered pioneers of Impressionism. Staudacher exhibited and sold his works to spa guests, with many paintings going to France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Great Britain, and the United States, though much remained in the region.
Art professor Johannes Hüppi has analyzed several Staudacher works, noting that "the figures in the paintings are sketched with quick, abstracted brushstrokes, yet the viewer recognizes the exact movements or age of the figures. You can even hear what they're saying." The chalk ground, a quickly drying and absorbent primer, enabled Staudacher to create thick, creamy painting that makes the materiality of all elements very tangible. "A whitewashed wall, rough tree bark, a trickling fountain can be experienced quite sensually," Hüppi explains.
Hüppi had Staudacher paintings before his eyes from his youth. The well-known Baden-Baden artist family – Alfonso, Brigitta, Johannes, and Thaddäus Hüppi – lived in Staudacher's house at Vincenti-Straße 30 in the 1970s. The artist's daughter, Anita Staudacher, also lived there – "a petite and always helpful woman," as Johannes Hüppi recalls. He particularly remembers the paintings that Vitus Staudacher had created in the stairwell of the three-story, romanticizing villa. The upper part of the house still bears a half-timbered addition today, and between the wooden elements, Staudacher painted fascinating landscapes.
"Those are all gone now and painted over," Hüppi laments. "The new owner obviously had little appreciation for architectural art." Anita Staudacher was supposedly promised a return to her parental home after renovations, but this promise was never kept. She lived in poverty in a small two-room apartment until her death in 1986, leaving behind about 100 oil paintings by her father. An appraiser valued the works at over 50,000 marks. Thanks to a donation, the City Museum purchased the largest part of this artistic treasure, including sketchbooks, drawings, and some nudes. Most, however, are oil-captured artistic observations of people of his time, embedded in nature and landscape.
After his retirement as an orchestra musician in 1911, Staudacher intensified his visual work. He became a member of the Gutach artist colony, which also included Baden-Baden landscape painter Victor Puhonny and Franz Gräßel from Obersasbach, who became known as "the duck painter." The artists aimed to create a nature-oriented artistic counterweight to increasing urbanization and industrialization, resulting in fascinating Black Forest views. Staudacher's works typically featured people at their center: attending church, cutting wood, or gathering kindling.
Despite the local City Museum sitting on a vast treasure trove of Staudacher works, according to museum director Heike Kronenwett, none of his paintings are currently on display. This situation reflects the broader neglect of this talented artist whose impressionist-influenced works captured the essence of 19th-century Baden regional life and deserve greater recognition in the art world.
