Hildegard Bachert (April 3, 1921 – October 17, 2019) was a German-born American art dealer and gallery director. Born in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...

, Germany in 1921, Bachert moved to America in 1936 to seek refuge from the Nazi regime. In 1940, she began working at the

Galerie St. Etienne Galerie St. Etienne is a New York art gallery specializing in Austrian and German Expressionism, established in Vienna in 1939 by Otto Kallir (originally Otto Nirenstein). In 1923, Kallir founded the Neue Galerie in Vienna. Forced to leave Austri ...

, a Manhattan gallery specializing in Austrian and German expressionist art, where she worked until her death.

Germany

Hildegard Bachert spent her childhood in Mannheim, Germany with her mother, father, and older sister Edith. She was twelve when the Nazis came to power in 1933. Her parents quickly made plans to send Hildegard and her sister to the United States, where they had relatives working in the meat industry. They escorted Edith and Hildegard to the US in 1936, but had to return to Germany soon after. After their return, their family home in Mannheim was plundered during

Kristallnacht () or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation fro ...

, but the Bachert parents escaped the country shortly thereafter and rejoined their children in America.

America and the Galerie St. Etienne

Once in the United States, Hildegard enrolled in high school and worked diligently to acquire English fluency. She graduated from high school in 1939 and, soon after, began working at the Nierendorf Gallery in midtown Manhattan. After a year and a half at Nierendorf,

Otto Kallir Otto Kallir (born Otto Nirenstein, April 1, 1894, in Vienna – November 30, 1978, in New York) was an Austrian-American art historian, author, publisher and gallerist. He was awarded the Silbernes Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um das Land Wien in ...

hired her to work as his secretary at the

. Bachert was instrumental in cultivating the gallery’s relationship with Grandma Moses, the most famous of the American folk artists represented by the Galerie St. Etienne. She collaborated with Moses by taking dictation for, ‘‘My Life’s History,’’ the artist’s autobiography. Additionally, she specialized in the work of

Käthe Kollwitz Käthe Kollwitz ( born as Schmidt; 8 July 1867 – 22 April 1945) was a German artist who worked with painting, printmaking (including etching, lithography and woodcuts) and sculpture. Her most famous art cycles, including ''The Weavers'' and ' ...

, a perennial staple at the gallery. When Otto Kallir died in 1978, Bachert assumed the role of co-director with

Jane Kallir Jane Kallir (born July 30, 1954) is an American art dealer, curator and author. She is co-director of the Galerie St. Etienne in New York, which specializes in Austrian and German Expressionism as well as self-taught and “outsider” art. Kallir ...

, Kallir’s granddaughter. Bachert and Kallir found many ways to make the historical material the Galerie St. Etienne is known for relevant to a contemporary audience. As part of their mission, Bachert authored an essay to the catalogue for the 1992

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...

Kollwitz retrospective and coordinated a double exhibition of Kollwitz’ work at the Fondation Neumann and the Musée Jenisch in 1994. In addition to Moses and Kollwitz, Bachert played a critical role in promoting lesser known artists in the Galerie St. Etienne’s purview like

Paula Modersohn-Becker Paula Modersohn-Becker (8 February 1876 – 20 November 1907) was a German Expressionist painter of the late 19th and early 20th century. Her work is noted for its intensity and its blunt, unapologetic humanity, and for the many self-portraits th ...

Richard Gerstl Richard Gerstl (14 September 1883 – 4 November 1908) was an Austrian painter and draughtsman known for his expressive psychologically insightful portraits, his lack of critical acclaim during his lifetime, and his affair with the wife of Ar ...

Lea Grundig Lea Grundig (Dresden, 23 March 1906 – 10 October 1977, at sea) was a German painter and graphic artist. Life Lea Langer was born in the old central heart of Dresden, where she grew up as part of the city's Jewish community. Her father was ...

Jeanne Mammen Jeanne Mammen (21 November 1890 – 22 April 1976) was a German painter and illustrator of the German art#Weimar period, Weimar period. Her work is associated with the New Objectivity and Symbolism (arts), Symbolism movements. She is best known ...

, and

Sue Coe Sue Coe (born 1951) is an English artist and illustrator working primarily in drawing, printmaking, and in the form of illustrated books and comics. Her work is in the tradition of social protest art and is highly political. Coe's work often inc ...

. She collaborated with Jane Kallir to complete the 1990 revision to Otto Kallir’s original catalogue raisonné of the work of Egon Schiele. Bachert and Kallir also maintain the Grandma Moses archives assembled by Otto Kallir in connection with the Grandma Moses catalogue raisonné. In 1999, Bachert was awarded the Cross of Merit, First Class for outstanding achievement towards rebuilding the Federal Republic of Germany. Bachert celebrated her 75th year of work at the Galerie St. Etienne, where she shared directorial responsibilities with Kallir.Kilgannon
“75 Years at a Manhattan Gallery and No Sign of Stopping,”
The New York Times, Oct. 30, 2015.

Publications

“Collecting the Art of Käthe Kollwitz,” in Elizabeth Prelinger, ed., ''Käthe Kollwitz'' (Washington D.C. and New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bachert, Hildegard 1921 births 2019 deaths Businesspeople from Mannheim Emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States American art dealers Women art dealers Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany