A group of eight postcard size cartoons
circa 1940
illustrated by Richard Bayer during his time in detention at the Huyton Prisoner of War camp. Sold together with a small poetry booklet 'Gesang der Geister über den Wassern' (Song of the Spirits over the Waters) with a hand-written introduction and dry-point etchings, plus one further illustration drawn on government toilet paper marked 'Government Property'.

Notes: Richard Franz Bayer (1901-1900) was a painter, illustrator and teacher at Bradford Grammar School. Born in Austria, Bayer's years leading up to the Second World War were ones of increasing political activity. His political cartoons for newspapers, attendance of secret Anti-Nazi meetings, involvement in protest marches and taking over the leadership of 4,000 Social Democrat teenagers in the youth movement soon saw him come into conflict with the right-wing government.

After Hitler's annexation of Austria, Richard not only lost his teaching job but faced arrest and imprisonment. His wife, Frances, and their daughter, Liza, had previously escaped to England with the help of the Quaker movement. Richard followed them in 1939, only a month prior to the declaration of war with Britain. He later said that he was carrying a pistol in case of interception, with "the first five bullets intended for the Nazis and the last one for himself".

Although Bayer initially found work teaching at a school in Hertfordshire, this was considered a Protected Area and he was soon detained and interned at Huyton Camp near Liverpool as a possible 'dangerous alien'. It was here that Richard continued to employ his artistic skills by designing satirical postcards about life in the camp alongside commentary about the war. In total, he produced over 70 different cartoons, which were copied and resulted in 5000 postcards. These cards were passed around the camp to be used by the detainees for communication and as a record of their confinement.

After a few months and Huyton's loyalty to Britain was established, Richard moved to London where he worked as a sign-writer and poster-maker for the cinema industry. In 1941, he took a teaching post at Bradford Grammar School as an art master, where he stayed until 1966. It was during this period that David Hockney was a pupil, with Bayer becoming Hockney's tutor, mentor and lifelong friend.

With thanks to The ARK (Archive Resource for Knowsley) for kindly aiding the research for this lot. For interest, a copy of Bayer's intern card has been uploaded to the website but is not present with this lot.