The Case of the Treacherous Trust Fund.

After the preceding post, came across an amazing story in the RM Auctions catalog, surely familiar to vintage car buffs but new to me. Highly recommended reading.

The Last Duesenburg

Life in the early 20th century was a ball for artist Rudolph Bauer, painter of wildly abstract works. His lover was a Baroness, his patron was Solomon Guggenheim, and he became wealthy enough to own a number of grand automobiles.

In 1937, Bauer left Germany and journeyed to the Duesenburg factory in Auburn, Indiana. He ordered a long wheelbase, supercharged chassis to be shipped back to Germany, where he intended to turn it into 20 feet of dream car.

Soon after returning to Hitler's Germany, Bauer was imprisoned. Guggenheim put up enough money to rescue him, and by 1939 Bauer was in the U.S.

Bauer's cup seemeth to run over. Guggenheim showered him with a trust fund and a seaside mansion. All Bauer had to do was sign a contract with the Guggenheim Foundation.

Bauer knew no English. When he discovered he had signed over any and all of his future works to the foundation, he was furious:

Rudolf Bauer lived out his final years in bitter isolation, and never painted again. But he did create one final piece of abstract art, his crowning achievement, a work so outrageous, imposing and flamboyant that its value today far exceeds that of any of his paintings1 – SJ-397, the Last Duesenberg – and he would treasure it until his death in 1953.

Bauer's Duesenburg, in magnificant, unrestored condition and with 10,000 original miles on the speedometer, last month sold at the RM Auctions sale for $2,805,000.