About This Artwork

Gertrude Abercrombie
American, 1909-1977

The Past and the Present, c. 1945

Oil on Masonite
55.9 x 68.6 cm (22 x 27 in.)
Gift of the Gertrude Abercrombie Trust, 1978.398

Exhibition, Publication and Ownership Histories

Exhibition History

New York, Asociated American Artist Galleries, "First Exhibition--Paintings, Gertrude Abercrombie," January 24-February 6, 1946.

Art INstitute of Chicago, "The Fiftieth Annual Exhibition of Works by Artists of Chicago and Vicinity," March 28-May 12, 1946, cat. 3.

Chicago Public Library, Art Room, November 1948.

Winnetka, Illinois, Leonard Linn Gallery, February 1952.

Chicago, Stevens-Gross Galleries, "Gertrude Abercrombie: Paintings," March 7-April 4, 1952.

Massachusetts, Springfield Museum of Fine Arts, "Twelfth Annual Spring Purchase Exhibition," April 20-May 25, 1952, cat. 11.

Chicago, Hyde Park Art Center, "Gertrude Abercrombie," November 4, 1956.

Springfield, Illinois State Museum, "Painters and Sculptors in Illinois 1820-1945," October 30-December 12, 1971, cat. 63; traveled to Champaign, Illinois, Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, February 6-27, 1972; Peoria, Illinois, Lakeview Center for the Arts and Sciences, March 10-April 16; Chicago Historical Society, April 26-June 24, 1972.

Chicago, Hyde Park Art Center, "Gertrude Abercrombie: A Retrospective Exhibition," January 28-March 5, 1977, cat. 40 (frontispiece).

New Brunswick, New Jersey, Rutgers University Art Gallery, "Realism and Realities: the Other Side of American Painting 1940-1960," January 17-March 26, 1982, cat. 2; traveled to Alabama, Montogmery Museum of Fine Arts, April 15-June 13; College Park, Art Gallery, University of Maryland, September 7-October 18.

Springfield, Illinois State Museum, "Gertrude Abercrombie," July 28- October 25, 1991; traveled to Chicago, State of Illinois Art Gallery, March 18-May 17, 1991.

Madison, Wisconsin, Elvehjem Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin, "With Friends: Six Magic Realists, 1940-1965," June 18-September 18, 2005, cat. 12

Publication History

"Artists of Chicago Open 50th Local Annual--Split $3,475 Purse," The Art Digest 20, 14 (1946) p. 8 (ill.).

Katherine Kuh, "A Golden Anniversary for Chicago Art," Art Institute of Chicago Bulletin 40, 4 (1947) p. 41 (ill.).

Frank Holland, "Gertrude Abercrombie Wins New Art Laurels," Chicago Sun-Times, November 21, 1948.

Frank Sandiford, "About Gertrude," Chicago Photographic 3 (Summer 1950) ill.