Karl Zerbe (September 16, 1903 – November 24, 1972) was a German-born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

and educator.

Biography

Karl Zerbe was born on September 16, 1903 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. The family lived in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

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from 1904–1914, where his father was an executive in an electrical supply concern. In 1914 they moved to

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, Germany where they lived until 1920. Karl Zerbe studied chemistry in 1920 at the

Technische Hochschule A ''Technische Hochschule'' (, plural: ''Technische Hochschulen'', abbreviated ''TH'') is a type of university focusing on engineering sciences in Germany. Previously, it also existed in Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands (), and Finland (, ). ...

in Friedberg, Germany. From 1921 until 1923 he lived in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, where he studied painting at the Debschitz School, mainly under Josef Eberz. From 1924 until 1926 Karl Zerbe worked and traveled in Italy on a fellowship from the City of Munich. In 1932 his oil painting titled, ‘’Herbstgarten’’ (autumnal garden), of 1929, was acquired by the National-Galerie, Berlin; in 1937, the painting was destroyed by the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

as "

Degenerate art Degenerate art (german: Entartete Kunst was a term adopted in the 1920s by the Nazi Party in Germany to describe modern art. During the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, German modernist art, including many works of internationally renowned artists, ...

." From 1937 until 1955, Karl Zerbe was the head of the Department of Painting,

School of the Museum of Fine Arts The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University (Museum School, SMFA at Tufts, or SMFA; formerly the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) is the art school of Tufts University, a private research university in Boston, Massachus ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. In 1939 Karl Zerbe became a U.S. citizen and the same year for the first time he used encaustic. He joined the faculty in the Department of Art and Art History at

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

in 1955, where he taught until his death. He was grouped together with the

artists

Kahlil Gibran (sculptor) Kahlil G. Gibran (`ka-lil jə-ˈbrän) (November 29, 1922 – April 13, 2008), sometimes known as "Kahlil George Gibran" (note the artist's preferred Americanized spelling of his first name), was a Lebanese American painter and sculptor fro ...

Jack Levine Jack Levine (January 3, 1915November 8, 2010) was an American Social Realist painter and printmaker best known for his satires on modern life, political corruption, and biblical narratives. Levine is considered one of the key artists of the Bo ...

and

Hyman Bloom Hyman Bloom (March 29, 1913 – August 26, 2009) was a Latvian-born American painter. His work was influenced by his Jewish heritage and Eastern religions as well as by artists including Altdorfer, Grünewald, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Blake, Bre ...

as a key member of the

Boston Expressionist Boston Expressionism is an arts movement marked by emotional directness, dark humor, social and spiritual themes, and a tendency toward figuration strong enough that American Figurative Expressionism#Boston Figurative Expressionism, Boston Figurativ ...

school of painting, and through his teaching influenced a generation of painters, including, among others,

David Aronson David Aronson (October 28, 1923 – July 2, 2015) was a painter and Professor of Art at Boston University. Biography Aronson was born in Šiluva, Lithuania in 1923. He taught at Boston University from 1955 to his death in 2015, where he formed ...

Bernard Chaet Bernard Chaet (born 1924, Boston, MA - died 2012) was an American artist; Chaet is known for his colorful, dynamic modernist paintings and masterful draftsmanship, his association with the Boston Expressionists, and his 40-year career as a Profess ...

, Reed Kay,

Arthur Polonsky Arthur Polonsky (June 6, 1925 – April 4, 2019) was a figurative painter, draughtsman and educator, known for his explorations of light, water, flight and similarly lyrical motifs that, in esoteric and unsettling ways, alluded to myth, fantasy, m ...

, Jack Kramer,

Barbara Swan Barbara Swan (1922–2003), also known by her married name, Barbara Swan Fink, was an American painter, illustrator, and lithographer. Her early work is associated with the Boston Expressionist school; later she became known for her still-l ...

, Andrew Kooistra, and Lois Tarlow. His works are thought significant because they record "the response of a distinguished artist of basically European sensibility to the physical and cultural scene of the New World".

Solo exhibitions

*1922: Gurlitt Gallery, Berlin, Germany *1926: Georg Caspari Gallery, Munich, Germany; Kunsthalle,

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

, Germany; Osthaus Museum,

Hagen Hagen () is the Largest cities in Germany, 41st-largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany. The municipality is located in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the south eastern edge of the R ...

, Germany *1934: Germanic Museum (now

Busch-Reisinger Museum The Harvard Art Museums are part of Harvard University and comprise three museums: the Fogg Museum (established in 1895), the Busch-Reisinger Museum (established in 1903), and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum (established in 1985), and four research ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, Cambridge, Massachusetts *1934, 1935, 1936, 1937: Marie Sterner Galleries, New York City *1936, 1938, 1939, 1940: Grace Horne Galleries, Boston, Massachusetts *1941: Vose Galleries, Boston; Buchholz Gallery, New York City *1943:

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United States. ...

, South Hadley, Massachusetts *1943, 1946, 1948, 1951, 1952: The Downtown Gallery, New York City *1943, 1947:

Berkshire Museum __NOTOC__ The Berkshire Museum is a museum of art, natural history, and ancient civilization that is located in Pittsfield in Berkshire County, Massachusetts ( United States). History The Berkshire Museum, founded by local paper magnate Zenas ...

, Pittsfield, Massachusetts *1945, 1946:

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

, Illinois *1946:

Detroit Institute of Arts The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, has one of the list of largest art museums, largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it covers with a major renovation a ...

, Detroit, Michigan *1948, 1949: Philadelphia Art Alliance, Pennsylvania *1948, 1955:

Boris Mirski Gallery The Boris Mirski Gallery (1944-1979) was a Boston art gallery owned by Boris Chaim Mirski (1898-1974). The gallery was known for exhibiting key figures in Boston Expressionism, New York School (art), New York and International style (art), intern ...

, Boston, Massachusetts *1950:

Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute The Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute (MWPAI) is a regional fine arts center founded in 1919 and located in Utica, New York. The institute has three program divisions: *Museum of art *Performing arts *School of art Museum of art The museum ...

, Utica, New York *1951-1952: Retrospective Exhibition circulated by the

Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) is an art museum and exhibition space located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America. The museum was founded as the Boston Museum of Modern Art in 1936. Since then it has gone through multiple na ...

, traveled to: Baltimore Museum of Art;

Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College (FAC) is an arts center located just north of downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado. Located on the same city block are the American Numismatic Association and part of the campus of Colorado ...

;

Currier Gallery of Art The Currier Museum of Art is an art museum in Manchester, New Hampshire, in the United States. It features European and American paintings, decorative arts, photographs and sculpture. The permanent collection includes works by Picasso, Matisse, Mo ...

, Manchester, New Hampshire; Florida Gulf Coast Art Center, Clearwater;

M. H. de Young Memorial Museum ( ; ; pl. ; ; 1512, from Middle French , literally "my lord") is an honorific title that was used to refer to or address the eldest living brother of the king in the French royal court. It has now become the customary French title of resp ...

, San Francisco;

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

, Cambridge, Massachusetts; *1954: The Allan Gallery, New York City *1958:

, Tallahassee; Ringling Brothers Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida *1958, 1959, 1960: Nordness Gallery, New York City *1960: New Arts Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia *1961-1962: Retrospective Exhibition circulated by The American Federation of Arts, Boston University

Work in public collections

Zerbe's work is in various public collections, including:

References

External links

from artcyclopedia.com

at www.figureworks.com * Elke Lauterbach: ''Sieben Münchner Maler: Eine Ausstellungsgemeinschaft in der Zeit von 1931-1937'' - Inhaltsverzeichnis und Einleitun
7 Münchner Maler
* (Photographer:

John Brook John Brook (1924-2016) was a Boston photographer who gained national recognition in the mid-20th century. Early life and education He was born to English immigrant parents in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, in 1924. He taught himself photography as ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Zerbe, Karl 1903 births 1972 deaths 20th-century German painters 20th-century American male artists German male painters German emigrants to the United States 20th-century American painters American male painters Modern painters Artists from Berlin Artists from Boston Federal Art Project artists School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts faculty Boston expressionism Florida State University faculty

Biography

Solo exhibitions

Work in public collections

See also

References

Further reading

External links