THE escape from the Nazis by the late Rudi Leavor, who dedicated his life to Bradford’s Jewish community, has echoes with the life and work of the local artist and teacher, Richard Franz Bayer.

Bayer also escaped the Nazis just before war was declared in 1939. Both men knew each other well, and Rudi, whose funeral took place this week, was a keen collector of Richard’s artwork.

Richard Bayer was born in Vienna in 1901. His father died before he was born and his mother also died when he was just three, so his formative years and upbringing was with relatives.

After his school education, he studied art, advanced teaching methods, and psychology in Austria. After graduation he became a teacher and gained a reputation for his creative use of art in primary education. He also worked with Franz Cižek, a pioneer in art education and founder of the Child Art Movement in Vienna.

In the years leading to the start of the Second World War, Richard, a Catholic, became politically active in Austria. He addressed anti-Nazi meetings, joined protest marches, and took charge of 4,000 teenage members of the Social Democratic Youth Movement. He also drew and published satirical anti-Nazi political cartoons that led him into conflict with the right-wing government.

When Hitler annexed Austria, Richard lost his teaching job and faced arrest and imprisonment. His wife, Frances, and their daughter, Liza, had earlier fled to England and, with the help of the Quaker Movement, Richard was smuggled out of Austria only a month before war was declared with Britain. He later told his family that he was carrying a pistol in case of capture - the first five bullets were intended for the Nazis, the last one for himself.

He was eventually reunited with his wife and daughter in England. They had the intention of sailing to the USA. But by that time, the last passenger ship to the USA had sailed, so the family settled in Britain.

Richard found work teaching at a school in Hertfordshire, but as this was in a Protected Area (deemed security sensitive) he was detained and interned at Huyton Camp, near Liverpool as a possible ‘dangerous alien’.

Richard turned his artistic skills to good use, designing humorous postcards about camp life, as well as political comment about the war. He produced over 70 cartoons, which were copied and used by the detainees for communication or as a record of their confinement. Richard’s son, Paul, said of his father’s cartoons: “The cartoons were mostly black and white and formed a catalogue from which other detainees could choose. My father would then take orders, produce the pen outline and then other inmates would colour them - a bit of a cottage industry in unusual surroundings.”

After a few months, his loyalty to Britain established, Richard was released from Huyton and made his way to London, where he worked as a sign-writer, including painting posters for the cinema industry. However, in search of more permanent work, he took up a teaching post in 1941 at Bradford Grammar School as an art and crafts master, where he stayed until 1966.

During his time at Bradford Grammar School David Hockney was a pupil and Richard became Hockney’s tutor, mentor and a lifelong friend. In later life, Richard recalled wryly that he was able to write ‘Very Good’ on Hockney’s pre-GCE art report.

He said of Hockney’s time at the school: “He was an excellent cartoonist, but he didn’t bother about other subjects. All he wanted to do was to study in the art group. But for his GCE examinations he buckled down and did quite well.”

Richard and his family lived at Shipley, and in 1943 he became secretary of the International Centre in Bradford, a social club to help refugees assimilate into Yorkshire life. He was a member of the Bradford Arts Club from 1943 to 1962, and was a founder member of the Shipley Arts Club.

His wife, Frances, died in the 1950s and their daughter, Liza, who also became an artist and art teacher, lived and worked in the York area until her early death in the 1970s. Richard later remarried, and he and his wife, Barbara, settled in Menston. They raised two sons and Richard became a founder member of the Menston Arts Club, its first President, and later its Vice-Chairman and an Honorary Member.

He painted in oils, gauche, watercolours and acrylics and also worked with ceramics, scraperboard, lino-cutting and silhouette-cutting. He had been inspired to take up this latter skill after a meeting Lottie Reineiger, a creator of animated silhouette films. He said: “I took it up commercially at art shows...and it has proved very popular. They don’t take long - about two minutes. On one occasion I did silhouettes on the stage of Bingley Playhouse.”

Richard’s paintings were exhibited locally, including a solo show at Bradford Central Library in 1972. His scraperboard illustrations also featured in the Dalesman magazine. An exhibition of the full range of his artwork, including postcards he had made during his period of detention, was held at Kirklands in Menston, 1981, to mark his 80th birthday and Richard’s long association with the Menston Arts Club.

He died in 1990.

A painting he made toward the end of his life featured a collage of important milestones and memories for him, including images of Bradford City Hall, Bradford Grammar School, and a silhouette of himself alongside an archetypal Yorkshire flat-capper.

Also shown are the Cow and Calf Rocks on Ilkley Moor - one of his favourite subjects - and close to where his ashes, and those of his second wife, Barbara, were scattered.

* Richard Bayer is one of 20 artists featured in Colin Neville’s book, Lesser-Known Artists of the Bradford District 1860 - 1997.

“They may be ‘lesser-known’ now, but in their heydays that certainly wasn’t the case,” says Colin.

“Many enjoyed considerable success and acclaim in their lifetimes. But sadly in the art world unless your work is continually in the public arena, your name can quickly fade from sight. I hope the book will revive interest in these neglected artists.”

* Lesser Known Artists of the Bradford District is available at notjusthockney.info