Medard Klein

Abstraction, ca. 1945

Graphite on paper

3 1/4 x 3 1/4 inches (framed 13 1/2 x 13 1/2 inches)

#2354

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Medard Klein’s bold abstractions painted during the late 1930s and 1940s earned him accolades from the national art press and gained him broad exposure through important museum exhibitions in Europe and America. Born in Appleton, Wisconsin, Klein moved to Chicago at age twenty-one to become an artist. He studied at the Art Institute in the late 1920s with Edmund Giesbert; at the National Academy of Art under Audubon Tyler; and at the Chicago Studio School of Art under the noted muralist John W. Norton.

Medard Klein’s commitment to non-objective painting, derived from his keen interest in classical music and an indefatigable exploration of the psyche, showed a determined adherence to the avant-garde principles of cubism, surrealism, and expressionism. Klein’s association with the vanguard of American painting, evidenced by his association with the Museum of Non-Objective Painting in New York, shows the national acclaim his artwork achieved during his lifetime.