Wanda Gag Bohemian Artist in America

Born March 11, 1893 in New Ulm MN to a German Mother and Bohemian Father, artists in their own right, Wanda Hazel Gag was the eldest of 7 children growing up in a family rich with European culture, folklore and music. This unconventional upbringing led to the emergence of an extremely talented woman who achieved prominence as author, artist and illustrator throughout the early 20th century. Her work "Millions of Cats" has never been out of print and continues to delight young readers after over 75 years.

From early childhood she was filled with the influence of art from her talented father and in 1908 at the age of 15 began her journal as papa instructed her from his death bed "Was der Papa nicht thun konnt, muss die Wanda halt fertig machen.". 'What Papa was unable to accomplish, Wanda will have to finish' became the lodestone of her career. Innocent paradise for the Gag children was over, but Wanda continued her passions and saw to it through struggle and sheer will that the house was still theirs and all her siblings finished school. Her trials and naivety parralleled with her emerging talent are revealed in her autobiography "Growing Pains". It is a copius manuscript of information on Wanda, her family and life through the first quarter of the twentith century. Resisiting charity or help that would split the family up, like "Little Women", Wanda shows an energetic spirit engaging the reader while letting us know it is not novel to be poor. Food was scarce for they had learned to draw not garden, but the hand me down clothes they were given were reinvented so skillfully they excited envy and wonder from the local townspeople. She was a champion at taking care of herself and family through her art.

A true Bohemian living in the Hungarian districts in NYC throughout the 20's, she began success in the commercial art field as early as 1919 doing fashion drawings for department stores. Perhaps feeling it was not what fueled her passions, and she had many, she was able to keep inspired by writing for The Broom and Liberator as well as authoring a terrific essay in The Nation entitled "A Hotbed of Feminists".

Although Wanda did not pine for her rural roots, she was very grounded in nature and finally settled outside the city in New Milford New Jersey on a farm she called All Creation with her partner Earle Humphreys. It was here she continued her artistic journey through family, nature and developing personal womanhood. The three influences that flow in and out of her style are represented in all her work, from her children's books for which she is most well know to her innovative sandpaper etchings.

Wanda Gag epotimizes the concept of 'Bohemian'. With her tradtional heritage straight from the Boehmerwald weaving in and out of her renditions of our most beloved fairytales, to her artistic gypsy wanderings throughout the early New York art scene with pals like Georgia O'Keefe, it is Wanda's authentic Bohemian spirit that breathes through our own creative fires.

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Wanda Gag was an artist internationally known for her lithographs. She was equally known as an author and illustrator of ten children's books, including Millions of Cats. She translated and illustrated two books of Grimm's Fairy Tales from the original German. She was born in New Ulm, Minnesota, in 1893, the eldest daughter of Anton Gag, a well-known regional artist and photographer. She went to art schools in the Twin Cities and New York on scholarships. Wanda created most of her art and writing at her All Creation home in New Jersey. She died in 1946.
~Gary W. Harm, Bloomington, MN

WANDA GAG 1893-1946 (American Artist)
Grandma's Parlor, 1930, Lithograph on Zinc Plate

"Oh, the Grandma Folks! What do they know about a creative urge? Nothing-they only have it. Not even a stunted poverty-stricken life had the power to quench that force." Regarding Uncle Frank-"if you only knew how much more you are an artist, how much more deeply so than many 'artists' I have met", pens Wanda on the Thanksgiving visit to New Ulm that pierces her 'Slavic Biebl-Gag heart', inspiring Grandma's Parlor, selected as one of the Fifty Prints of the Year by the American Institute of Graphic Arts for 1930.

Collections: Dallas Museum of Art; Minnesota Historical Society; Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute; Museum of Modern Art; National Museum of American Art; New Jersey State Museum; Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow.

The Wanda Gag House in New Ulm, MN is perhaps the most authentic work of restoration in the state of Minnesota. For Membership information or a subscription to CatTails, the association newsletter, please contact WGHA, P.O. Box 432,New Ulm, MN 56073 or wandagag@comcast.net. And for a glimpse inside, the newly launched WGHA web site.