About the Artist

Explore life events
  • Grit Kallin-Fischer. Portrait of Irene Bayer. 1927. Gelatin silver print, 20 1/8 x 14 1/4" (51.2 x 36.2 cm). Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin

    An international figure, Irene Bayer-Hecht was born in Chicago, grew up in Hungary, and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Berlin, and the Sorbonne and École de Beaux-Arts, Paris. In 1923 she visited the first large Bauhaus exhibition in Weimar, where she met Herbert Bayer, whom she married in 1925. This allowed her to attend the Bauhaus’s Vorkurs (foundation course) that year without formally enrolling at the school. At the same time she attended photography courses at the Academy of Graphic Arts and Book Publishing in Leipzig. She took her own photographs and also used her technical training to support Bayer’s photographic work. The couple separated in 1928. Beyer-Hecht’s photographs feature experimental approaches and candid views of life at the Bauhaus; these pictures were included in the exhibition Film und Foto, in 1929. In 1938 she returned to the United States, abandoning photography and working instead as a translator.

    —Mitra Abbaspour
  • Alternate Name(s) Irene Angela Hecht (Birth Name)
    Irene Hecht (Alternate Name)

Meeting Points

Artist Chronology

October 28, 1898
Born
At location: Irene Bayer-Hecht
Chicago
Childhood and adolescence
Lives in Hungary
At location: Irene Bayer-Hecht
Hungary
Beginning in 1920
Studies tapestry and jewelry design at the Academy of Fine Arts
At location: Irene Bayer-Hecht
Berlin
1923
Irene Hecht attends a Bauhaus exhibit for the first time and meets Herbert Bayer
At location: Herbert Bayer, Irene Bayer-Hecht
Weimar
1923–24
Studies art at the Sorbonne and l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts
At location: Irene Bayer-Hecht
Paris
1925
Attends photography courses at the Academy for Graphic Arts and Book-craft
At location: Irene Bayer-Hecht
Leipzig
1925
Irene Hecht and Herbert Bayer are married
At location: Herbert Bayer, Irene Bayer-Hecht
Dessau
1925–28
Irene Bayer-Hecht and Herbert Bayer work together at the Bauhaus. Bayer serves as director of the printing and advertising workshops
Bayer-Hecht would often develop and enlarge Bayer's photographs. During this period Bayer establishes lowercase as the house style.
At location: Herbert Bayer, Irene Bayer-Hecht
Dessau
1928
Irene Bayer-Hecht and Herbert Bayer separate but remain married
At location: Herbert Bayer, Irene Bayer-Hecht
Dessau
1928–38
Lives in Berlin
At location: Irene Bayer-Hecht
Berlin
1929
Irene Bayer-Hecht writes the catalogue introduction for Herbert Bayer's solo exhibition at Künstlerbund März
Participant: Herbert Bayer
Contributor: Irene Bayer-Hecht
Linz
May 18–July 7, 1929
Internationale Ausstellung des Deutschen Werkbunds Film und Foto (FiFo) at Städtische Ausstellungshallen

Kunstgewerbemuseum, Zurich
August 28–September 22, 1929

Im Lichthof des Ehemaligen Kunstgewerbemuseums, Prinz-Albrechs-Strasse 7, Berlin
October 19–November 17, 1929

Stadtmuseum, Danzig
(dates unknown)

Österreichisches Museum, Vienna
February 20–March 31, 1930

Agram, Zagreb
April 5–14, 1930

Münchner Bund/Verein Ausstellungspark München E.V. (as part of Internationale Ausstellung. Das Lichtbild), Munich
June 5–September 7, 1930

Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo
April 1931

Asahi Shimbun, Osaka
July 1–7, 1931

Participant: Berenice Abbott, Herbert Bayer, Aenne Biermann, Anton Bruehl, Francis Bruguière, Max Burchartz, Florence Henri, André Kertész, Germaine Krull, Helmar Lerski, El Lissitzky, Man Ray (Emmanuel Radnitzky), László Moholy-Nagy, Walter A. Peterhans, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Hans Richter, Aleksandr Rodchenko, Charles Sheeler, Edward Steichen, Maurice Tabard, Umbo (Otto Umbehr), Edward Weston, Lucia Moholy, Werner Rohde, George Hoyningen-Huene, Gustav Klutsis, Karl Blossfeldt, Heinz Loew, Erich Comeriner, Semyon Fridlyand, Roman Karmen, Eli Lotar, Oskar Nerlinger, Robert Petschow, Sasha Stone, Dziga Vertov, Yva (Else Simon), Willy Zielke, Irene Bayer-Hecht, Hans Finsler, Cami Stone
Organizer: El Lissitzky, László Moholy-Nagy, Hans Richter, Edward Steichen, Edward Weston, Dziga Vertov
Visitor: Alexander Hackenschmied
Stuttgart
1938
Bayer-Hecht's and Bayer's negative archives are sent to Vienna
The negatives are destroyed during the war.
Affiliated: Herbert Bayer, Irene Bayer-Hecht
Vienna
1938–45
Lives in America and works as a translator
At location: Irene Bayer-Hecht
Reno New York
1944
Bayer-Hecht and Bayer divorce
At location: Herbert Bayer, Irene Bayer-Hecht
Reno
1945–47
Works for the American military administration
At location: Irene Bayer-Hecht
Munich
1947–91
Lives in Los Angeles
At location: Irene Bayer-Hecht
Los Angeles
1991
Dies
At location: Irene Bayer-Hecht
Los Angeles

Walther Photographs

View this artist's works in MoMA's Online Collection
For best results, please enable JavaScript.