Konrad Cramer - Personal Background Information

A painter of abstraction including numerous still lifes and non-objective work, he became one of America's earliest modernist painters who founded and directed the Woodstock, New York Art Association and the Woodstock School of Painting. In painting style, he was one of the more radical artists working there, adapting cubism to the local landscape.

He divided his time between Woodstock and Manhattan and was highly prominent in progressive art circles. He was a close friend of Alfred Stieglitz, who interested him in photography, and this led to Cramer's directing and teaching at The Woodstock School of Miniature Photography. He was also a skillful illustrator and textile designer.

He was born in Wurtzburg, Germany, and was early influenced by the Munich expressionists called der "Blaue Reiter," translated "Blue Rider." The group was founded by Wassily Kandinsky and was the avant-garde art movement of its day. Cramer used oil, watercolor, and ink in a loose, free flowing style that depicted fish, nudes and other objects. From that subject matter, he switched to Cubism, inspired by Cezanne's planes of light.

In 1911, he married an American art student and emigrated to America, where he began his distinguished career. In 1913, he established his American reputation with a pioneering series of abstract paintings. His post World War I style became a fusion of European modernism with imagery of American culture such as common household objects in his still lifes.

His work is in numerous museums including the Phoenix Art Museum in Arizona.

Konrad Cramer (1888-1963)
1888 Born, Wurtzburg, Germany
1906-08 Studied at Karlsruhe Academy of Fine Arts with Ludwig Schmidt-Reutte and Ernest Schurth
1911 Moved to the United States
1913 Group exhibition, The McDowell Club, New York
1914 Wrote “What 291 Means to Me” for Camera Work
1914 Photographed by Alfred Stieglitz
1917 Became United States citizen
1919 Group exhibition, Exhibition on Modern Art, Y.W.H.A., New York
1919-20 Group exhibitions, The Florence Gallery, New York
1920 Group exhibition, Exhibition of Paintings by American Moderns, Los Angeles County Museum of History, Science and Art
1920 Traveled to Germany and France on a Rockefeller Foundation Grant
1921 Group exhibition, Brooks Memorial Art Gallery, Memphis, Tennessee
1922 Taught, The Woodstock School of Painting and Allied Arts
1924 Group exhibition, Whitney Studio Club
1926-28 Taught at Children’s University School (now The Dalton School), New York
1929 Named ‘Most Deserving Artist,’ Dudensing Gallery, New York Exhibited, Carnegie International, Pittsburgh
1930 Two-man exhibition, Dudensing Gallery, with Adolph Gottlieb
1932 Group exhibition, Woodstock Group, College Art Association, New York
1932 One-man exhibition, Club Latin, Cincinnati, Ohio
1932 Group exhibition, Warwick Gallery, Philadelphia
1933 Exhibited, first Whitney Museum of American Art Biennial
1933 Exhibited, Carnegie International
1933 Taught, Woodstock School of Art
1934 Group exhibition, Wanamaker Regional, Wanamaker Gallery, New York
1935 Exhibited, Abstract Painting in America, Whitney Museum
1935 Group exhibition, Weyhe Gallery, New York
1935 Taught, Woodstock School of Painting
1936 Exhibited, Whitney Museum of American Art Biennial
1936 Exhibited, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
1936 Exhibited photographs, Albany Institute
1936 Exhibited, Whitney Museum summer show
1937-39 Taught, Woodstock School of Miniature Photography
1937 Exhibited, Carnegie International
1937 Exhibited, Corcoran Annual
1937 Taught, Bard College
1938-39 Exhibited, Corcoran Annual
1940-46 Taught, Bard College
1952 One-man exhibition, State College, New Paltz
1953 Exhibited, Whitney Annual
1953-56 President, Woodstock Guild of Craftsmen
1956 One-man exhibition, Woodstock Guild of Craftsmen
1958 One-man exhibition, Long Island University
1960 Group exhibition, Woodstock Artists Association Artists
1961-62 The Third Eye, photographs by Konrad Cramer, Manuel Komroff, and Nathan Resnick, circulated by U.S.A. Department of State
1963 Died, January 28, Woodstock