Karl Zerbe, Study for Self Portrait,1960, acrylic 20 by 14 inches.
Zerbe, Karl, Girl from Miami, Fabric collage and acrylic on canvas, 50 by 36 inches. signed Zerbe, lower right, signed dated and titled on the stretcher.
Karl Zerbe was born in Berlin in 1903. A year later his family moved to Paris. Zerbe grew up in Paris and worked in an architect’s office before going to art schools there and in Munich. In 1923 the city of Munich awarded him a scholarship to live and travel in Italy for three years. On his return to Munich in 1926 he had a one man show of his Italian paintings in the gallery of George Gaspari. This successful exhibit began a long record of exhibitions of his paintings by important German museums.
Karl Zerbe, Lions in Havan, 1949, casein on rice husk paper, sighed lower right and dated verso.
An expressionist painter, Zerbe came to the United States and Boston in 1934. He, along with Hyman Bloom and Jack Levine, became nationally known as the first generation of Boston Expressionists. Zerbe was appointed head of the painting department of the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts; remaining there for seventeen years. In 1954 he took a leave of absence to teach at Florida State University and decided to stay in Tallahassee. Zerbe became full professor of art at Florida State in 1957. That year he was chosen as one of thirty outstanding Florida artists to exhibit at the Florida State Fair in Tampa.
Zerbe, Karl, Kingbird and Raven, acrylic and paper collage on canvas, 40 by 60 inches. signed lower right center.
In 1960 Zerbe exhibited at the Ringling Museum, All Florida Show, and served on the jury of selection, along with Clinton Adams, from the University of Florida; Clayton Charles, from the University of Miami; and Syd Solomon. One of the most highly regarded artists in the country, Zerbe continued to teach at Florida State until his retirement in 1971. One of the first major artists to work in plastic paint media, Zerbe’s work can be found in over 70 museums in the United States and Europe.
Karl Zerbe, Segregated, Acrylic on canvas, 48 by 60 inches.
Born: September 16, 1903, Berlin, Germany. Died: November 28, 1972, Tallahassee. Education: Technische Hochaschule, Friedberg; Munich Academy Debschitz School with Joseph Everz; Karl Casper; in Paris. Exhibits: Berlin, one man show, 1922; George Gaspari Gallery, Munich, Germany, 1926; Marie Sterner Gallery, New York City, 1936; Germanic Museum, Harvard University, 1936; Art Institute of Chicago, awards, 1944-46; Carnegie Institute, 1949; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, awards, 1947, 1949, 1951; Florida Gulf Coast Art Center, Belleair, April 1951; Florida Gulf Coast At Center, March 1952, one man show; Florida State University Art Gallery, one man show, October-November 1954; Florida State University, May 1955; Florida State Fair, Tampa, 1956; Boston University, citation, 1957; FSU Annual Faculty Exhibit, January 1958; Florida State Fair, Tampa, February 1958, member jury of selection; Society of The Four Arts, 21st Annual, Contemporary American Paintings, December 1959, James Cameron Clark Award, acrylic, Hudson Bay; Governor’s All Florida Art Show, Ringling Museum of Art, January 9-February 2, 1960, woodblocks, Tundra, Landscape with Letters, Landscape with ‘C’; Boston University Art Gallery, Retrospective of the works of Karl Zerbe, April-May 1960; Florida State University, 1st Annual Symposium, Tallahassee, 1966, Five Florida Artists, acrylic and foliage on paper, Yellow Manilot; Museum of Modern Art, New York City, circulated exhibit “Six Artist Teachers In America’ included Josef Albers, Hans Hoffman, Amedee Ozenfant, William Hayter and Mohloy Nagy; John Baron Paine Medal; Watson F. Blair Prize; Norman Wait Harris Medal; Carnegie Institute, 3rd prize; Henry Schiedt Memorial Prize; Philadelphia Watercolor Prize. Works: National Institute of Arts and Letters; Metropolitan Museum of Art; Whitney Museum; Brooklyn Museum; Albright Art Gallery, Chicago.
