WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture

Artists›Hugo Gellert

Hugo Gellert

1892

WA-00027245

PrintmakingSurrealismExpressionismRealism

Representation

None documented

Institutional Exhibitions

158

Works in Collection

243

Assets Indexed

Authority-backed Facts

Publications Referenced

90%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (3)

WikidataQ1008996 ULAN500330278

MoMA

Selected Institutional Exhibitions

View all exhibitions →

No image

Fantastic Art, Dada, Surrealism

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1936–1937

No image

Modern Painters and Sculptors as Illustrators

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1936

No image

Murals by American Painters and Photographers

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1932

Field Verification (3 fields)

2 cross-verified · 1 single-source

BiographyMoMA· 93%✓
Birth yearArtsy· 85%✓
NationalityArtsy· 85%

Source Registry (1)

MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/2115
Tier 1 · Institutional92%

About

Why this artist matters now

Hugo Gellert was an American printmaker and painter whose work combined social realism with expressionistic line work, often depicting industrial labor and political upheaval. Active from the 1920s through the 1980s, he created woodcuts, lithographs, and paintings that engaged directly with themes of class struggle and working-class life. His formal language drew on German Expressionism and Mexican muralism, adapted to American urban subject matter. Gellert maintained an independent artistic practice throughout his career, remaining committed to socially engaged representation.

Source: Moma Bulk 2026 05 04 · Trust score: 92% · Updated 1mo ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

Surrealism

Medium

Printmaking

Related Artists

12 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

Art Institute of Chicago Museum of Modern ArtNew York Whitney Museum of American Art

Canonical record

Artworks (158)

WattsOS

ABC of Democracy from the portfolio Century of the Common Man

1943 · Screenprint

Sheet: 20 in. × 16 1/4 in. (50.8 × 41.3 cm) Image: 15 × 12 in. (38.1 × 30.5 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

WattsOS

Century of the Common Man: Free World or Slave World

1943 · color screenprint

Sheet: 50.9 x 81.3 cm (20 1/16 x 32 in.); Image: 38.5 x 33.3 cm (15 3/16 x 13 1/8 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Century of the Common Man: Free Man's Duties 3

1943 · color screenprint

Sheet: 50.5 x 81 cm (19 7/8 x 31 7/8 in.); Image: 39.2 x 33.5 cm (15 7/16 x 13 3/16 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Free World or Slave World from the portfolio Century of the Common Man

1943 · Screenprint

Sheet: 20 in. × 16 1/4 in. (50.8 × 41.3 cm) Image: 15 × 12 in. (38.1 × 30.5 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

WattsOS

Century of the Common Man: Free Man's Duties 1

1943 · color screenprint

Sheet: 50.6 x 81.1 cm (19 15/16 x 31 15/16 in.); Image: 38.5 x 33 cm (15 3/16 x 13 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

Century of the Common Man

1943 · Illustrated book with nineteen screenprints

overall (closed): 20 1/2 × 16 1/4 × 9/16" (52 × 41.3 × 1.5 cm); composition (each approx.): 15 3/16 × 13 1/16" (38.5 × 33.2 cm); page (each approx.): 20 × 16" (50.8 × 40.6 cm)

Hugo Gellert

Cultural Positioning

Authority Records (3)

Selected Institutional Exhibitions

Field Verification (3 fields)

Source Registry (1)

Why this artist matters now

Taste overlap and adjacency

Museum Collections

Artworks (158)

Artwork sources (5)

Images

Relationships

Representation & Collections

Exhibitions and timeline