Sol A. Bauer personal papers

Sol Bauer (1898-1982) practiced his art as an avocation. He earned a degree in civil engineering from Case School of Applied Science and during his professional life was a prominent licensed surveyor in private practice. He was active in professional societies including the American Congress of Surveying and Mapping, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Canadian Institute of Surveyors, and the Cleveland Society of Professional Engineers.

Bauer allowed himself fifteen hours each week to sculpt in wood. Although he began carving soapstone as a child, his only arts education were night classes with Walter Sinz at the Cleveland School of Art. His compositions were defined by the form and grain of each block of wood. He made no preliminary models. Bauer was encouraged to enter his work in the museum’s May Show in 1928 and became a regular exhibitor, often winning prizes. His sculptures were also exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Chicago Art Institute, Dayton Art Institute, and Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in addition to local galleries. For a time, Bauer served on the Fine Arts Advisory Committee of the Cleveland City Planning Commission. Of his work Mr. Bauer said “In these thick-limbed, heavy torsoed figures I see a sad beauty, like the patient nobility I want to insinuate into their…faces (Cleveland Plain Dealer, May 8, 1949).”