Gertrude & Friends: The Wisconsin Magic Realists

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…