Celebrate the exhibition Abercrombie: The Whole World Is a Mystery with a magnet featuring one of her iconic paintings.
Gertrude Abercrombie (American, 1909–1977), Two Ladders, 1947. Oil on Masonite, 12 x 16 in. (30.5 x 40.6 cm). Illinois State Museum, Purchase.
Bringing together nearly 80 paintings from major museums and private collections, Gertrude Abercrombie: The Whole World Is a Mystery reveals an artist whose spare, dreamlike imagery including moons, owls, cats, solitary figures, and doors leading to unknown places, become a language of introspection and imagination. Known as the “Queen of Chicago,” Abercrombie (1909-1977) hosted legendary salons in her Hyde Park home, where musicians like Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker performed late into the night. Her art, like her life, was infused with rhythm, humor, mystery, and quiet rebellion.