The Hillstrom Museum of Art at Gustavus Adolphus College presents, Karl Schrag: Memories and Premonitions, on view November 23, 2015 through January 29, 2016, with an opening reception Monday, November 23, 2015, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
German-born American artist Karl Schrag (1912-1995) created vibrant, visionary images that were in consonance with Abstract Expressionism, and he was associated with other artists working in that mode especially through Atelier 17, the famed New York printmaking studio where he worked in the 1940s and that he directed in 1950. Memories and Premonitions, a traveling exhibition organized by The Syracuse University Art Galleries (Syracuse, New York), is the first major examination of the artist’s work since his death twenty years ago.
Schrag is represented in the Hillstrom Collection by works including an exuberant gouache painting, Window at Sunset (c. 1951), purchased by Museum namesake Richard L. Hillstrom from Kraushaar Galleries, New York, in 1970. Kraushaar was one of Hillstrom’s favorites among the many New York galleries he frequented in building up his extensive collection, and Kraushaar held its first of over twenty Schrag exhibitions in 1947 and continues to work with his family. The appearance of the traveling exhibition at the Hillstrom Museum of Art thus not only brings attention to the career of an important artist but also sheds light on the Hillstrom Collection and its formation. As a supplement to Memories and Premonitions, the Hillstrom Museum of Art is displaying its painting by Schrag and also prints recently donated, in conjunction with the exhibit, by the artist’s daughter Katherine Schrag Wangh and his son Peter Schrag.
The exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated catalogue produced by the Syracuse University Art Galleries and available for purchase and by an illustrated exhibition checklist available free of charge.
As with all programs of the Hillstrom Museum of Art, Karl Schrag: Memories and Premonitions and its opening reception are free and open to the public. Karl Schrag’s work will be available for viewing in the Hillstrom Museum of Art through January 29, 2016. Museum hours are 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday-Friday and 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Additional information about the Museum and its programs can be found at www.gustavus.edu/finearts/hillstrom.
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