C.W. Kraushaar Art Galleries
Charles W. Kraushaar established C.W. Kraushaar Art Galleries in 1885 as a small store on Broadway near 33rd Street in New York City. Initially the store sold artist materials, photogravures, and reproductions. Drawing from his previous experience working with William Schaus, a leading dealer in European paintings, Kraushaar soon progressed to selling original watercolors, paintings, and engravings by European artists, primarily landscapes of the Barbizon School (Kraushaar Galleries). Exhibition catalogs for Kraushaar Galleries have been scanned for the Documenting the Gilded Age project (see illustrations).
In 1901, Charles Kraushaar moved his business to 260 Fifth Avenue and with the assistance of his brother, John F. Kraushaar, began adding modern French and American paintings to the inventory. Of particular interest to the brothers was the group of American realists known as The Eight, who had held a self-selected, self-organized exhibition at the Macbeth Gallery in 1908 (Frick Art Reference Library). The Eight were Arthur B. Davies, William Glackens, Robert Henri, Ernest Lawson, George Luks, Maurice Prendergast, Everett Shinn, and John Sloan. Luks, who John Kraushaar met around 1902, was probably the first major American artist represented at Kraushaar Galleries (Frick Art Reference Library). In 1917, Sloan was invited to hold a solo exhibition at the Galleries despite accusations that his exhibition the previous year at the Whitney Studio represented a brutal depiction of life that lacked subtlety and sensitivity (Artnet). See the Documenting the Gilded Age highlight about The Eight included in this online exhibition.
When Charles Kraushaar died suddenly in 1917, John Kraushaar assumed control of the Galleries and enlisted the assistance of his daughter, Antoinette Kraushaar. Following the end of the WWI, John Kraushaar resumed buying trips to Europe, often accompanied by Antoinette, and exhibited works by European artists such as André Derain, Henri Matisse, Amedeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Vincent van Gogh. However, it was the increasing commitment to contemporary American artists for which the galleries would become best known (Artnet). In addition to The Eight, the Kraushaars developed their inventory of American paintings and etchings with exhibitions of work by artists such as Gifford Beal, Charles Demuth, Guy Pène Du Bois, Gaston Lachaise, and Jerome Myers.
Works Cited:
—. “Kraushaar Galleries.” Wikipedia. Web. 23 Oct 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraushaar_Galleries>
Artnet. “A History of Kraushaar Galleries.” Artnet. Web. 23 Oct 2012. <http://www.artnet.com/galleries/about.asp?G=&gid=626>
Frick Art Reference Library. “Kraushaar Galleries.” Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America. Web. 23 Oct 2012. <http://research.frick.org/directoryweb/browserecord.php?-action=browse&-recid=5999>