The artistic output of Gertrude Abercrombie, born in Austin in 1909, is defined by a meticulous surrealist technique that often featured solitary women in sparsely furnished rooms. Though primarily based in Chicago, her work emerged from a strict Christian Scientist upbringing and evolved into a practice heavily influenced by the local jazz scene and her own inner consciousness.
Formative Years and Education
The daughter of traveling opera singers Tom and Lula Janes Abercrombie, she spent time in Berlin during 1913 before the onset of World War I prompted a return to the United States. Following a childhood in Aledo, Illinois, the family settled in Chicago in 1916. She earned a degree in Romance languages from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1929. Subsequently, she attended the American Academy of Art and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, transitioning from commercial illustrations for department stores to fine art.
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By 1932, Abercrombie committed fully to her painting, gaining regional recognition through outdoor art fairs. Between 1934 and 1940, she was employed by the Works Progress Administration. Her social circle centered on the Chicago jazz community, where she formed friendships with musicians including Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. Her work began to synthesize these musical interests, with Gillespie noting her ability to transport the essence of bebop into visual art.
Themes and Methodology
Abercrombie utilized symbols of sorcery, such as black cats, crystal balls, and broomsticks, to construct self-portraits that masked her insecurities. She favored a reduced, controlled style, often stating that her process involved selection and reduction rather than complexity. Her mature period in the 1940s and 1950s solidified a body of work characterized by dreamscapes and still-lifes, emphasizing strange yet simple subjects.
Final Years and Legacy
Declining health due to alcoholism and arthritis limited her productivity after 1959. In the final year of her life, the Hyde Park Art Center organized a major retrospective of her work. She died in Chicago on July 3, 1977. Her will established the Gertrude Abercrombie Trust, which distributed her personal collection and paintings to various Midwestern cultural institutions.
Fast facts
- Born: 1909, Austin, Texas
- Died: 1977, Chicago, Illinois
- Movement: Surrealism
- Education: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- WPA employment: 1934-1940
- Spouses: Robert Livingston, Frank Sandiford
- Primary medium: Oil painting and woodcuts
- Notable association: Chicago jazz scene
Questions readers ask
What subjects did Gertrude Abercrombie paint most frequently?
She primarily focused on self-portraits, sparsely furnished interiors, still-lifes, and barren landscapes.
How did jazz music influence her art?
She hosted jam sessions in her Hyde Park home and integrated the rhythm and spirit of bebop into her creative process, with musicians describing her as the first bop artist.
Achievements
- Movement: surrealism
