| Karl Schrag | ||
| Birth Date: December 7, 1912 |
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| Death Date: December 10, 1995 Artist Gallery |
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| Would you like to wander in here?
Karl Schrag was born in Karlsruhe, Germany in 1912. His father was German and his mother American. He studied in Geneva and in Paris before he moved to the United States in 1938. Once in New York City, he studied at the Arts Student League. By 1945, Schrag had joined Atelier 17, where he became one of the artists who worked with Stanley William Hayter. In 1950, Schrag was appointed director of the Atelier; and in 1954, he joined the faculty of Cooper Union, where he remained until his retirement in 1968.
His work often centers on the theme of nature, and his own memories of nature date from many pleasurable excursions he took as a child into the Black Forest near his childhood home in Karlsruhe, Germany. His love of capturing the image of nature has stayed with him throughout his life.
Schrag summed up his feelings about working in Maine when he stated, “The great forces of he sun, moon and winds and rain-—the vastness of the sea and of the sky in ever-changing light and weather—the sensation of growth and mystery in the forest have a haunting quality—a spell I wish to find again in my paintings. There seem to be no `big’ or `small’ themes—a light, great darkness, great drama, even great tragedy can be seen in the upheaval of trees during violent storms. I see it all as a mirror of life”.
At home in New York City, Karl Schrag reflected back on his career when he stated: “The years as they pass have made greater and greater demands upon my own creative gifts to reach forms of expression which would correspond to the great variety of sensations I had, looking at the world. The works themselves must therefore at times have the lightness of a breeze, and others the powers of the storm”.
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