WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture

Artists›Karl Schrag

Karl Schrag

Karl Schrag

1912

WA-00029346

Karlsruhe, Germany

PrintmakingExpressionismFiguration

Representation

None documented

6

Institutional Exhibitions

58

Works in Collection

100

Assets Indexed

7

Authority-backed Facts

0

Publications Referenced

90%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (2)

WikidataQ21880760

Selected Institutional Exhibitions

View all exhibitions →

No image

American Prints: 1900�1960; Recent Acquisitions: Illustrated Books

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1985–1986

No image

Prints: Acquisitions 1977�1981

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1981–1982

No image

American Prints: 1913�1963

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1974–1975

No image

Tamarind: Homage to Lithography

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1969

No image

American Prints of the 20th Century

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1954

No image

Summer Exhibition: New Acquisitions; Recent American Prints, 1947�1953; Katherine S. Dreier Bequest; Kuniyoshi and Spencer; Expressionism in Germany; Varieties of Realism

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1953

Field Verification (7 fields)

3 cross-verified · 4 single-source

BiographyMoMA· 93%✓
Birth yearMoMA· 93%✓
LocationMoMA· 93%✓
Death yearMoMA· 93%
DeceasedMoMA· 93%
NationalityMoMA· 93%
Primary mediumMoMA· 93%

Source Registry (2)

MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/5268
Tier 1 · Institutional92%
Artsy (bulk)https://www.artsy.net/artist/karl-schrag
Tier 1 · Institutional85%

About

Why this artist matters now

Karl Schrag was an American printmaker and painter whose work emerged from postwar abstraction and gestural mark-making. Working primarily in lithography and etching, he developed a distinctive vocabulary of energetic, layered lines and forms that occupied the space between figuration and abstraction. His prints and paintings demonstrated a commitment to the expressive potential of the printing matrix itself, treating each work as an investigation of material and process rather than reproductive technique.

Source: Moma Bulk 2026 05 04 · Trust score: 92% · Updated 29d ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

Expressionism

Medium

Printmaking

Related Artists

12 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

Cleveland Museum of Art Museum of Modern ArtNew York Art Institute of Chicago

Canonical record

Artworks (58)

My Room-Bright Night

My Room-Bright Night

1993 · Lithograph

Museum of Modern Art

Flowering Tree-Moonlight

1990 · lithograph

Cleveland Museum of Art

Preparatory Drawing for: Flowering Tree-Moonlight

1985 · charcoal

Cleveland Museum of Art

Self-Portrait - Night

1980 · Oil on canvas

50 x 40 in. (127 x 101.6 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Night Sounds of a Brook

1977 · Monotype with gouache additions

composition 18 13/16 x 24 15/16" (47.8 x 63.3 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Self Portrait with White Cap

Self Portrait with White Cap

1972 · Aquatint and etching

Plate (circle): 17 5/8" (44.8 cm) diameter. Sheet: 30 x 22 1/4" (76.2 x 56.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

1963 · Brush and ink on paper

24 in. × 18 1/16 in. (60.9 × 45.8 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

1963 · Aquatint

plate 23 13/16 x 19 11/16" (60.5 x 50 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Rocky Landscape

Rocky Landscape

1962 · Lithograph on natural Nacre paper

Image: 49.5 × 71 cm (19 1/2 × 28 in.); Sheet: 56.7 × 76.8 cm (22 3/8 × 30 1/4 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Path of the Sun

Path of the Sun

1962 · Lithograph in red, orange, and yellow on cream wove paper

Image/sheet: 38.4 × 57 cm (15 1/8 × 22 1/2 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Overgrown Path

1962 · Lithograph in six colors on white Nacre paper

Image/sheet: 94 × 58 cm (37 1/16 × 22 7/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Road to the Shore

Road to the Shore

1962 · Lithograph on white Nacre

Image/sheet: 57.8 × 88.8 cm (22 13/16 × 35 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Overgrown Path

1962 · Lithograph on white Nacre paper

Image/sheet: 94 × 58 cm (37 1/16 × 22 7/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Rocks below the Sea

Rocks below the Sea

1962 · Lithograph on natural Nacre paper

Image: 46 × 51 cm (18 1/8 × 20 1/8 in.); Sheet: 56 × 61.5 cm (22 1/16 × 24 1/4 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

End of the Island

End of the Island

1962 · Color lithograph on white Nacre

Image: 44.5 × 77 cm (17 9/16 × 30 3/8 in.); Sheet: 52.5 × 77 cm (20 11/16 × 30 3/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Rocks, Trees and Clouds

Rocks, Trees and Clouds

1962 · Lithograph in four colors on cream wove paper

Image: 53 × 76 cm (20 7/8 × 29 15/16 in.); Sheet: 56.8 × 76 cm (22 3/8 × 29 15/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Storm Cloud

1962 · Lithograph on cream wove paper

Max image: 34.3 × 69 cm (13 9/16 × 27 3/16 in.); Sheet: 56.6 × 76 cm (22 5/16 × 29 15/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Pond in a Forest

Pond in a Forest

1962 · Lithograph in two colors on ivory wove paper

Image/sheet: 92 × 46.2 cm (36 1/4 × 18 1/4 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Woods and Open Sea

Woods and Open Sea

1962 · Lithograph on white Nacre paper

Image/sheet: 64.3 × 84 cm (25 3/8 × 33 1/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Rocky Landscape

Rocky Landscape

1962 · Lithograph

composition (irreg.): 19 5/8 × 27 15/16" (49.9 × 70.9 cm); sheet: 22 3/8 × 30 3/16" (56.9 × 76.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Rocks, Trees and Clouds

Rocks, Trees and Clouds

1962 · Lithograph

composition (irreg.): 21 × 29 7/8" (53.4 × 75.9 cm); sheet: 22 5/16 × 29 7/8" (56.7 × 75.9 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Pond in a Forest

Pond in a Forest

1962 · Lithograph

composition: 36 3/16 × 17 3/8" (91.9 × 44.2 cm); sheet: 36 3/16 × 17 3/8" (91.9 × 44.2 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Path of the Sun

Path of the Sun

1962 · Lithograph

composition: 15 × 22 1/2" (38.2 × 57.2 cm); sheet: 15 × 22 1/2" (38.2 × 57.2 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Storm Cloud

1962 · Lithograph

composition (irreg.): 13 11/16 × 26 15/16" (34.7 × 68.4 cm); sheet: 22 1/4 × 29 13/16" (56.6 × 75.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

View all 58 artworks →

Artwork sources (4)

58 published of 97 catalogued · 49 with image

MoMA
39 publishedof 78 catalogued36 img
Art Institute Chicago
13 published13 img
The Met
3 published
Cleveland Museum of Art
3 published

Per-Artwork Provenance Chains (top 3)

3 entries · 1 sources

Preparatory Drawing for: Flowering Tree-Moonlight
1985 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Silence
1947 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Flowering Tree-Moonlight
1990 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number

Record

Images

Artsy artist portrait

Artsy

Flicker and Gleam of Fire (Art Institute of Chicago)

Art Institute of Chicago

Flicker and Gleam of Fire (Art Institute of Chicago)

Art Institute of Chicago

Relationships

5

Movements2

Expressionism Figuration

Collections3

Cleveland Museum of Art Museum of Modern Art Art Institute of Chicago

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

Cleveland Museum of Art

In collection

Museum of Modern Art

New York, US

In collection

Art Institute of Chicago

Record

Selected Credits

6 total

1985American Prints: 1900�1960; Recent Acquisitions: Illustrated Books — Museum of Modern Artexhibition

1981Prints: Acquisitions 1977�1981 — Museum of Modern Artexhibition

1974American Prints: 1913�1963 — Museum of Modern Artexhibition

1969Tamarind: Homage to Lithography — Museum of Modern Artexhibition

1954American Prints of the 20th Century — Museum of Modern Artexhibition

1953Summer Exhibition: New Acquisitions; Recent American Prints, 1947�1953; Katherine S. Dreier Bequest; Kuniyoshi and Spencer; Expressionism in Germany; Varieties of Realism — Museum of Modern Artexhibition