In 1912, painter, print maker and modernist Karl Schrag was born. Known for his paintings and prints splattered with bright colors, vivid brushstrokes and landscapes, Schrag’s work from the mid 20th century is making a reemergence 100 years after his birth.

This week, three galleries — the Kraushaar Gallery and the Alexandre Gallery, both located in New York City, and the SUArt Galleries — are putting on Schrag exhibitions in honor of the 100th anniversary of his birthday. The New York City galleries’ shows opened this past weekend.

Syracuse University is hosting the largest of these three shows, with its “Karl Schrag: Memories and Premonitions” exhibition that opened Aug. 30 and will remain open until Oct. 21. Jerome Witkin, an art, design and transmedia professor, will open the SUArt Galleries lecture series at 5 p.m. in the SUArt Galleries in the Shaffer Art Building.

Schrag passed away 17 years ago at the age of 82 and was known for his bold use of colors and spirited and free brushstrokes, according to his 1995 obituary in The New York Times. He spent years as a professor of art in New York City, first at Brooklyn College and later at Cooper Union School of Art.

In the 1950s, then-18-year-old Witkin sat in a class taught by Schrag at Cooper Union in New York City. Witkin spent two semesters as a student in Schrag’s class.

In the classroom, Witkin and his fellow students found themselves inspired and challenged by Schrag’s unprecedented teaching style.

“He was a very unusual teacher,” Witkin said. “How he talked about artists and the development of artists, nobody else was doing that. Other people would go to a class and people would say ‘OK, start working.’ There was no push.”

Unlike many of Witkin’s art professors at the time, Schrag developed a parental relationship with his students, which Witkin felt was an important bridge between professor and pupil.

Witkin got to know Schrag as more than a professor outside the classroom. They attended many of the same art shows and galleries outside class and developed a mentor-mentee relationship through their shared interests and excursions.

One notable moment for Witkin with his former professor was at Schrag’s show at the Kraushaar Gallery in New York City. Schrag was very uncomfortable and quiet at his own art show, Witkin said.

“I felt sorry for him because he was so shy,” Witkin said. “He seemed like he didn’t want to be there.”

Despite the discomfort Schrag felt at his own exhibition, he still supported Witkin in his endeavors to show his own work there. Nine years after Schrag’s show, Witkin opened his own, the opening of which he felt Schrag’s support helped, he said.

SU is hosting the largest of the Schrag shows, featuring additions from both the university’s own collection of Schrag’s work, which includes all of the artist’s prints, and loans of paintings from Schrag’s children and family.

Schrag’s family also worked with the two other galleries to showcase as much of the artist’s work as possible for the centennial shows, said Andrew Saluti, the assistant director of museum operations at the SUArt Galleries.

For years, the SUArt Galleries wanted to bring the Karl Schrag work to campus and felt the centennial year of Schrag’s birth would be a good fit for the opening of the exhibition.

“It’s nice to be a part of the bigger, grander Schrag moment,” Saluti said.

Witkin’s thesis and lecture will focus on New York in the 1950s, and how art and art school felt during those years. It will also focus on the idea of paths in Schrag’s artwork, which is prominent in many of his works, Witkin said.

The idea of paths is significantly shown in Schrag’s work, “Overgrown Path,” a six-color lithograph on woven paper shown in the SUArt Galleries exhibition.

“There’s something very striving and universal about the wind, the color, the light,” Witkin said. “This word, ‘path,’ becomes very important. Everybody’s on a path, everybody makes a decision of where the path goes to.”

Witkin hopes that it may spark a greater interest in art from the mid 20th century. He was also impressed and appreciative of the sheer size of the exhibition.

Said Witkin: “This is the largest Karl Schrag show I’ve ever seen. It’s an amazing thing.”

Published on September 17, 2012 at 11:51 pm

Contact Diana: dspearl@syr.edu | @dianapearl_