BRITISH COLUMBIA ARTISTS  

Harry Ludwig Victor Tauber

July 19 1900 - February 5 1975

Vienna School of Arts and Crafts
Tauber's Puppet Players (Vancouver)
B.C. College of Arts Ltd. (Vancouver 1933 - 1935)



Portrait of Tauber by Alec Dalgleish

Harry Tauber was a Viennese architect and artist, born in Gloggintz, Austria. He arrived in Vancouver in the early 1930s after completing two projects in Toronto in 1930 and 1931. In 1931 he acted in the play The Theatre of the Soul by Evreinov with the Vancouver Little Theater Association. His B.C. College of Arts c.v. noted that he did "marionette theatre plays" at the Vancouver Art Gallery in 1932. He established himself as a flamboyant artist, teacher, and lecturer.

The 1933 City Directory does not list Tauber, but the 1934 Directory lists his address as 1644 Balsam, the residence of Mrs. Marie Planta and her son Leslie. In 1935 only Tauber's name is listed with no address.

He was one of the three founding directors of the B.C. College of Arts in Vancouver when it opened in 1933. According to an unpublished interview with Jack Shadbolt, Tauber was an imposing man, who dressed eccentrically, had a glass eye, a large black beard, smoked cigars, and lectured about "the lost continent of Mu" to his students as incense burned, lights (and his glass eye) flashed, and mystical music played.


Tauber c.v. from B.C. College of Arts Pre-Prospectus 1933

   
Tauber c.v. from B.C. College of Arts Prospectus 1933


1934 autograph card by Tauber, private collection.

After the College of Arts closed at the end of the 1935 school year, he traveled to Nootka with Jock Macdonald, Macdonald's wife Barbara, and Leslie Planta. At Nootka the group tried to make a living while Jock painted, refer to letter in references.

After leaving Nootka, Tauber briefly returned to Vancouver where he gave a series of lectures, then relocated to Victoria. He later moved to Los Angeles, and then to Honolulu, where he died in 1975.


GROUP EXHIBITIONS
DATE EXHIBITION ARTWORK

References

B.C. College of Arts Pre-Prospectus 1933

B.C. College of Arts Prospectus 1933

Letter from Mrs. J.W.G. (Jock) Macdonald 1969.
   Courtesy Vancouver Art Gallery Library & Archives

FROM DESOLATION TO SPLENDOUR (refer to FDTS77)

VANCOUVER: ART AND ARTISTS 1931 - 1983; various authors
      1983, ISBN 0-920095-00-3, 440 pages; Vancouver Art Gallery
      List of works; artists' biographies; credits; no index (see partial index)
      Poster for Tauber's Puppet Players illustrated with players names listed, page 57.

Collection of the National Gallery of Canada
      https://www.gallery.ca/collection/artist/harry-tauber

Clippings

"As for Mr. Harry Tauber, he comes from many production successes in Havanna, Cuba, Budapest, Berlin, and especially the famous Burg Theatre in Vienna, where he was for eights years the Ausstattungs-Vorstand or, as we would say, the Big Boss. Here he introduced to the European stage the modern art of Cubistic technique. In Paris and New York about this time his exhibitions of Expressionistic stage technique won him the Gold Medal. He is about 30 now, but it was many years ago that as a small boy he got his start when the leading Viennese director chose his designs from hundreds submitted at an exhibition. Since then he has created over 8000 costumes of marvellous fantasy and meaning. His two teachers are now internationally famous: Professor Czisek and Josef Hoffman."
      From "Day By Day With the Marionettes Part III The Puppeteers" by J.C. Shaw
      Vancouver Sun, March 2 1932

"After an absence of nearly two years, Mr. Harry Tauber, former director and member of the staff of the B.C. College of Arts, will return to Vancouver early in October. Mr. Tauber will, among other activities, deliver a series of twelve lectures on New Theatre tendencies, a task for which his experience as scenic designer for the Burg Theatre in Vienna for six years specially qualifies him. Information about the lectures can be obtained by phoning Seymour 5405X between 8 and 10 a.m."
      Vancouver Sun, September 19 1936

"The Beaux-Arts executive met at the home of Mrs. Jack Barraclough, Sylvan Lane, last night to discuss several major items. The president, Miss Helen Sweetland, was in the chair. It was decided to sponsor Mr. Harry Tauber, eminent authority on the theatre and stage, in an illustrated lecture on the history and development of the theatre, to take place Thursday evening, November 12, at 8:30 o'clock, in the lower ballroom of the Crystal Garden. Mr. Tauber is from Vienna, and has had varied connections with all branches of theatre work, and can talk on any branch connected with the stage. This lecture will be open to the public, the price of admission being very nominal."
      From "Beaux-Arts To Sponsor Lecture"
      Victoria Daily Times, November 9 1936

"The Theatre of tomorrow is, like every original theatre-type of the past, an instrument of the mind, introducing to fellowman the highest achievements of a spiritual elite, in art-forms. No revival of the theatre, nor "star-systems," nor championship can possibly solve the problem which the present development of consciousness demands. ... (continues)"
      From "The Theatre of Tomorrow" by Harry Tauber
      Victoria Daily Times, April 17 1937

"Anthroposophic Study Group. Meeting, Beaux Arts Bldg., 1700 W. Eighth St., 8 p.m. Professor Harry Tauber address, "The Principles of Organic Art."
      Los Angeles Evening Citizen News, June 20 1938

"Harry Ludwig Victor Tauber, art instructor, of 2757 Puuhonua street, on Wednesday filed in the office of Clerk William F. Thompson, Jr., federal court, his declaration of intention to become a naturalized citizen of this country. He was born in Gloggintz, Austria."
      Honolulu Star-Advertiser, October 19 1939

"If anybody can help find Harry Tauber, who once lived at 2757 Puuhonua street, Harry's brother Kurt Tauber in Vienna, Germany (sic), will be much obliged. Kurt Tauber, whose address is Schenburgstrasse, 48, Vienna, wrote chief of police William Gabrielson, in a letter delivered yesterday, for help in locating his brother."
      From "Viennese Seeks Brother In Isles"
      Honolulu Star-Advertiser, January 20 1940

"Harry Tauber, who worked in the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts and did special work under Viennese artists, will give courses in contemporary arts and comparative art cultures (Ed.: at the University of Hawaii)
      From "Poetry Class to be Held"
      Honolulu Star-Advertiser, October 6 1940

"Among non-credit classes beginning tomorrow is a lecture course in comparative art cultures by Harry Tauber, formerly of the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts. The course will take up the contributions of various peoples of the earth to the development of art."
      Honolulu Star-Advertiser, February 16 1942

"When Mr. Macdonald stepped on the dock at Nootka from S.S. Maquinna, he was accompanied by his wife and little daughter of seven. In the party were also Harry Tauber, Viennese stage designer, and a young student (Leslie Planta) who had come to camp in the region. ... (continues)"
      From "Famed Local Artist Marooned At Christmas In Lighthouse" by J. Delisle Parker
      Vancouver Sun, December 23 1944

"A Christmas pageant of the Nativity will be given the Kalihi neighborhood and other friends in Honolulu by Farrington high school Thursday, December 20, at 7 p.m. in the outdoor auditorium. It will include Egyptian dancers, Roman soldiers, King Herod's court, with its fan bearers; horsemen and all the pomp and color of the east. Horses borrowed from children of the neighborhood will bear their riders onto the stage. Harry Tauber, dramatics teacher at Farrington, is directing the pageant, designing costumes and stage settings."
      Honolulu Star-Bulletin, December 18 1945

"More than 500 students will take part in Farrington high school's Nativity pageant tonight in the school's outdoor theater. The pageant, directed by Harry Tauber, will consist of two acts and is an all musical production."
      From "Pageant Tonight"
      Honolulu Star-Bulletin, December 20 1945

"He (James Park) also attributes the trends his work did take with Harry Tauber, who in 1924 designed what he claims to have been the first cubistic stage setting."
      From "Abstract Artist James Park is Now a Realist" by Nicki Connell
      Honolulu Star-Bulletin, July 14 1951

"TAUBER - Harry Ludwig Tauber, 74, of 1541 Kalakaua Ave., died Feb. 5. Services were held Tuesday at Mililani Memorial Park Mortuary. Burial at Valley of the Temples. No known survivors."
      Honolulu Star-Advertiser, February 12 1975


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