Description
This collection contains the papers of American artist Alexander Kruse (1888-1972), a student of the "Ashcan" School of Art
and author of two popular art instruction books. The materials relate to Kruse's career as an artist, art critic, and author
and chiefly date from the 1930s to 1960s.
Background
Alexander Kruse (1888-1972) was a student of the "Ashcan" School of Art at the turn of the century, studying under artists
John Sloan, Henry McBride, and George Bellows, among others. Some of his more well-known paintings include "The Butcher Shop,"
"Young Smoker," and "Ted Lewis Performs," among hundreds of other paintings as well as drawings, etchings, and lithographs.
Kruse was also influenced by the political atmosphere of his upbringing especially the socialistic thinkers such as Eugene
V. Debs, John Reed, and Emma Goldman; thus his work reflected his leftist ideals of the beauty and nobleness of the working
class. Kruse also taught art at the Brooklyn Museum, the YMCA, and several other institutions in New York. For many years
he was the art critic for the Brooklyn Eagle and wrote a "how-to" art column for the New York Post. He also wrote two widely
popular art instruction books: How to draw and paint, and The ABC's of pencil drawing, both published in the 1950s. Alexander
Z. Kruse's work can be found in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Bibliothèque
Nationale in Paris, the Library of Congress, and in many private collections worldwide.
Restrictions
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and
obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.