Adolf Ferdinand Konrad (1915 - 2003) 'nude Combing Her Hair'

Oil on board      

Unframed: 10.5 x 8 ins (26 x 20 cm)

Framed: 16 x 14 ins (40 x 35 cm)

Popularly known as the Painter Laureate of Newark, Adolf Konrad is known for his American Scene paintings of New Jersey. Born in Bremen, Germany, he immigrated to the United States with his family in 1925 during a time of political and economic turbulence. Settling at first in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Konrad enrolled in the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts, training primarily under the Russian-born modernist Bernard Gussow (1881–1957). By the early 1930s, Konrad made Newark his home, creating the Cooperative Gallery with fellow students Bernard Rabin and Nathan Kreuger in 1935. Later renamed the Rabin and Kreuger Gallery, it became known as one of the leading American modern and realist art galleries at the time. Konrad served as the president of the Artists Equity Association in New York from 1954 to 1930 and of the New Jersey Art Association from 1958 to 1960. In 1966, the Newark Museum organized a major exhibition of Konrad’s work, confirming his position as a preeminent New Jersey artist. Recognized for his achievements, the National Academy of Design honored him with the Thomas B. Clark Prize in 1956 and the Andrew Carnegie Award in 1967. Konrad became a full academician of the National Academy of Design in 1970. Today his work may be found in the collections of the Newark Museum and the New Jersey State Museum.

SN4488