Egon Adler

Ger./Czech./Am., 1892 - 1963


Egon Adler was born in Karlsbad, Germany in 1892. Adler attended art academies in Berlin, Munich and Weimar. In the 1930s, he owned his own advertising agency in Berlin and later became the advertising director for 20th Century Fox in Prague, Czechoslovakia. An accomplished easel painter, Adler is closely associated with the Munich Expressionists. In 1912, he exhibited in Berlin with Galerie Der Sturm and at the First German Autumn Salon in Berlin in 1913.

In 1932, Adler and his family left Berlin under Nazi rule for Prague. When Prague no longer proved safe for the Jewish family, they emigrated to Paris, where he designed posters and worked in publicity for 20th Century Fox. After Paris fell to the Nazis, Adler and his wife departed for Marseilles, where they were aided out of the country and over the Pyrenees Mountains and into Spain by famed American journalist Varian Fry (who helped over 2,000 refugees to escape). Fry forged passports for the couple, who fled on foot, along with their dog. The couple eventually made their way to Portugal, where they were able to book passage to New York on separate ocean liners, the SS Siboney and the NEA Hallas in October and November of 1940.

Resettled in New York City, Adler worked as a graphic designer, illustrator and easel painter. He died in New York in 1963. In 1964, he was awarded a posthumous exhibition at the Goethe House in New York, NY.

  • Untitled (Abstraction), ca. 1960
    Oil and sand on canvas
    27 1/2 x 35 1/2 inches

    Estate stamped on reverse.

    #13322
  • Untitled (Abstraction), 1962
    Oil and sand on canvas
    24 x 30 inches

    Estate stamped on reverse.

    #13290
  • Untitled (Abstraction), ca. 1960
    Oil and sand on canvas
    43 3/4 x 31 1/2 inches

    Estate stamped on reverse.

    #13324
  • Untitled (Abstraction), ca. 1960
    Oil and sand on canvas
    30 x 40 inches

    Estate stamped on reverse.

    #13325
  • Untitled (Abstraction), ca. 1960
    Oil and sand on canvas
    24 x 18 1/2 inches

    Estate stamped on reverse.

    #13311
  • Untitled (Abstraction), ca. 1960
    Oil and sand on paper
    26 x 19 inches

    Estate stamped on reverse.

    #13741
  • Untitled (Abstraction), ca. 1960
    Oil on board
    31 3/4 x 23 3/4 inches

    Signed Adolar, upper left.

    #13398
  • Untitled (Abstraction), ca. 1960
    Oil and sand on Masonite
    24 x 18 inches

    Estate stamped on reverse.

    #13307
  • Untitled (Abstraction), ca. 1958
    Oil and sand on paper
    25 3/4 x 18 3/4 inches

    Estate stamped on reverse.

    #13735
  • Untitled (Abstraction), ca. 1960
    Oil and sand on paper
    19 x 26 inches

    Estate stamped on reverse.

    #13733
  • Untitled (Abstraction), ca. 1960
    Oil on Masonite
    24 x 18 inches

    Estate stamped on reverse.

    #13392
  • Untitled (Abstraction), ca. 1960
    Oil and sand on paper
    22 x 17 inches

    Signed Egon Adler, lower right; Estate stamped on reverse.

    #13708
  • Untitled (Abstraction), ca. 1960
    Gouache on paper
    13 3/4 x 22 inches

    Estate stamped on reverse.

    #13740
  • Near Marciana Alta, ca. 1960
    Gouache on paper
    19 1/2 x 27 1/2 inches

    Titled lower right

    #13730
  • Untitled (Rooftops), ca. 1960
    Gouache on paper
    13 3/4 x 16 1/2 inches
    #13724
  • Untitled (Abstraction), ca. 1960
    Oil and sand on paper
    15 3/4 x 21 inches
    #13753
  • Untitled (Abstraction), ca. 1960
    Gouache on paper
    22 x 17 inches

    Estate stamped on reverse.

    #13749
  • Untitled (Abstraction), ca. 1960
    Gouache on paper
    23 1/4 x 18 inches

    Estate stamped on reverse.

    #13763
  • Untitled (Abstraction), ca. 1960
    Gouache on paper
    18 x 15 inches

    Estate stamped on reverse.

    #13758
  • Untitled (Elba), 1960
    Watercolor on paper
    14 3/4 x 22 inches

    Signed with initials E.A., lower right

    #13415
  • Untitled (Landscape), ca. 1960
    Gouache on paper
    17 x 22 inches
    #13765
  • Rio Marina, 1960
    Watercolor on paper
    18 3/4 x 26 inches

    Titled lower right

    #13412
  • Untitled (Elba Houses), 1960
    Oil on paper
    13 x 18 1/2 inches
    #13418
  • Untitled (Elba), 1960
    Watercolor on paper
    14 3/4 x 22 inches

    Signed with initials E.A., lower right

    #13415

Egon Adler was born in Karlsbad, Germany in 1892. Adler attended art academies in Berlin, Munich and Weimar. In the 1930s, he owned his own advertising agency in Berlin and later became the advertising director for 20th Century Fox in Prague, Czechoslovakia. An accomplished easel painter, Adler is closely associated with the Munich Expressionists. In 1912, he exhibited in Berlin with Galerie Der Sturm and at the First German Autumn Salon in Berlin in 1913.

In 1932, Adler and his family left Berlin under Nazi rule for Prague. When Prague no longer proved safe for the Jewish family, they emigrated to Paris, where he designed posters and worked in publicity for 20th Century Fox. After Paris fell to the Nazis, Adler and his wife departed for Marseilles, where they were aided out of the country and over the Pyrenees Mountains and into Spain by famed American journalist Varian Fry (who helped over 2,000 refugees to escape). Fry forged passports for the couple, who fled on foot, along with their dog. The couple eventually made their way to Portugal, where they were able to book passage to New York on separate ocean liners, the SS Siboney and the NEA Hallas in October and November of 1940.

Resettled in New York City, Adler worked as a graphic designer, illustrator and easel painter. He died in New York in 1963. In 1964, he was awarded a posthumous exhibition at the Goethe House in New York, NY.

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