Vintage 1958 Priebe African American Milwaukee Wi Painting Gertrude Abercrombie

  
This is an original watercolor and ink painting on postcard measuring approximately 5 1/2 x 3 1/4 inches by American surrealist Karl Priebe. The postcard is sent to Kirby Raab and his wife Adelaide. Kirby Raab is the stepson of famous WI American painter George Raab.

Below is a biography of Mr. Priebe courtesy of Marquette University: Karl J. Priebe, painter, was born July 1, 1914 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of Emil and Katherine (Wacker) Priebe. He graduated from the Layton School of art and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Priebe had already won the prestigious Prix de Rome (1941), received critical acclaim for his paintings in New York, and gained recognition as a leader of the emerging "fantasist" school. His growing reputation soon enabled him to support himself from the sale of his works, which were exhibited in major public and private galleries from coast to coast and in Paris, Mexico City, and Tokyo. Many institutions acquired his paintings for their permanent collections. Outside the studio, Priebe pursued interests in birdwatching, black people and their culture, and jazz music.

His wide circle of friends included artists Gertrude Abercrombie, Carol Blanchard, and John Wilde; novelist, critic, and portrait photographer Carl Van Vechten (an early promoter of his work); jazz artists Billie Holiday, and Dizzy Gillespie; and authors Gwendolyn Brooks, Owen Dodson, Edward Harris Heth, and Langston Hughes. Karl Priebe died July 5, 1976. Sellers: Get your own map of past buyers.