Gertrude & Friends: The Wisconsin Magic Realists

Exhibitions

Karl J. Priebe (American, 1914–1976), Volcanic Landscape, 1941.

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Overview

  • December 12, 2025–July 2026

  • The Godfrey American Art Wing, Level 2, Gallery K230

  • Free for Members

  • Included with admission

The Wisconsin Magic Realists burst onto the state’s art scene in the early 1940s. Led by painters John Wilde and Karl Priebe, this group of colorful personalities, including Gertrude Abercrombie and Marshall Glasier, spanned the artistic communities of Milwaukee, Madison, and Chicago, developing creative partnerships and friendships. Their fantastical depictions of the Midwest—sometimes eerie, often playful—questioned society’s relationship to nature and the quirks of American life. This display explores three themes dear to the Magic Realists: self-representation, the landscape, and the life of objects.

This exhibition is drawn from the Layton Art Collection at the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Museum’s collection.

Gertrude & Friends: The Wisconsin Magic Realists is a Layton Art Collection Focus Exhibition. The steward of the collection that Frederick Layton started, one of Milwaukee’s founding public art collections, the Layton Art Collection, Inc., is proud to partner with the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Selected artworks

Karl J. Priebe (American, 1914–1976), Night Tryst, 1946.

Casein on cardboard. 18 ×23 7/8 in. (45.72 ×60.64 cm). Layton Art Collection, Inc., Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Fred Madison, and John Uihlein L424. Photo by John R. Glembin

Aaron Bohrod (American, 1907–1992), Southwestern Antique Shop, 1948.

Oil on panel. 32 ×40 1/2 in. (81.28 ×102.87 cm). Gift of James H. Brachman M1993.74. Photo by John R. Glembin. © Estate of Aaron Bohrod / Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York

John Wilde (American, 1919–2006), Karl Priebe, Gertrude Abercrombie, Dudley Huppler, Marshall Glasier, Sylvia Fein, a Friend, Arnold Dadian and Myself, 1966.

Oil on panel. 8 ×12 in. (20.32 ×30.48 cm). Gift of the Gertrude Abercrombie Trust M1979.33. Photo by P. Richard Eells. © John Wilde

Santos Zingale (American, 1908–1999), Playthings in Show Window, 1949.

Oil on masonite panel. 31 5/8 ×47 in. (80.33 ×119.38 cm). Gift of Gimbel Bros., Milwaukee M1959.11. Photo by P. Richard Eells

Marshall Glasier (American, 1902–1988), John Steuart Curry and the University of Wisconsin Bull-Breeding Machine, 1948.

Oil on masonite panel. 19 5/16 ×25 1/2 in. (49.06 ×64.77 cm). Gift of Gimbel Bros. M1959.50. Photo by John R. Glembin

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Supporting sponsor

  • Layton Art Collection, Inc.