Gertrude Abercrombie
Blue-chip#11
Egon research · Artist market profile
The market, in context.
Explore Gertrude Abercrombie’s auction history alongside the exhibitions, collections and gallery relationships behind the market.
Institutional research
Collections & exhibitions
Read holdings, exhibition history and their qualifications in context.
Read the institutional research →
Egon investment scores
Liquidity
8/10
How easily works can be bought and sold at auction
Institutional
8/10
Museum collections, biennials, and institutional recognition
Momentum
9/10
Recent price trends, gallery moves, and market buzz
Market position
Research updated
Auction result highlight
$864,100 USD
Silo at Aledo (1953)
Bonhams New York, November 20, 2024
83% increase over previous record, sold 8.5x low estimate
Auction highlights
Scroll horizontally if needed →
| Work | Result | Venue and date |
|---|---|---|
| Owl for Emil, 1958 | Not supplied | Auction closed, February 20, 2025 |
| Carnations, 1960 | Not supplied | Auction closed, December 11, 2024 |
| Silo at Aledo, 1953 | $864,100 | Bonhams, November 20, 2024 |
2 further auction entries on record for Gertrude Abercrombie — inside Egon.
Pricing
Current 2023 2025
- Low end
- $20,000-$50,000 USD (small works, less significant)
- High end
- $150,000-$500,000 USD (important works)
- Mid range
- $50,000-$150,000 USD (typical small to medium works)
- Masterworks
- $500,000-$900,000 USD (major paintings)
- Historical low pre 2020
- $600-$20,000 USD
Median price progression
- 2021
- $55,000
- 2022
- $125,000
- 2023
- $100,000
- 2024 avg 12 months
- $182,687
- Transition period 2020 2022
- $15,000-$100,000 USD
Auction history
- Date
- November 20, 2024
- Work
- Silo at Aledo (1953)
- Price
- $864,100 USD
- Venue
- Bonhams New York
- Significance
- 83% increase over previous record, sold 8.5x low estimate
Scale premium
- Note
- Small works (postage stamp to postcard size) can command higher prices than larger works due to rarity and precision
- Sweet spot
- 1950s paintings - described as artist's best period
Market statistics
- Top 20 prices
- 16 of top 20 set in last 7 months (as of Sept 2022)
- Lowest overall
- $875 for Clown and Pedestal (1939) woodcut, Heritage Auctions 2022
- Lowest painting
- $1,150 for Black Cat (1957), Sotheby's Chicago 1998
- Works over 100k
- 60+ works
- Price range lifetime
- $600 - $864,100 USD
- Total auction results
- 305+ artworks at auction (MutualArt data)
- Estimate performance 2023
- 70% of works exceeded high estimate
- Sell through rate last 3 years
- 95%+
Collector warnings
- Fakes
- Market growth has attracted forgers - expert authentication essential
- Condition
- Critical factor given age and materials (oil on masonite common)
- Authenticity
- Dr. Susan Weininger (Roosevelt University) is leading authentication expert
- Provenance issues
- Artist sold and gifted works directly throughout career - record-keeping imperfect
Major sales events
Maurer collection 2022
- Date
- September 28, 2022
- Lots
- 21 artworks
- Title
- Casting Spells: The Gertrude Abercrombie Collection of Laura and Gary Maurer
- Total
- $2.8 million
- Venue
- Hindman, Chicago
- Top lot
- Self and Cat (Possims) - $375,000
- Sell through
- 20 of 21 sold (95%)
- Significance
- Single-owner, single-artist sale; all lots met or exceeded estimates
Market position
- Liquidity
- High - works appear regularly at major auction houses
- Trajectory
- Dramatic upward trend from 2021-2024
- Broader trend
- Part of larger Surrealism revival and renewed interest in women artists
- Auction houses
- Bonhams, Sotheby's, Christie's, Freeman's/Hindman, Wright, Toomey & Co.
- Relative value
- Still considered bargain compared to European Surrealists (who command 7+ figures)
- Price volatility
- Stable upward trajectory with strong demand
- Comparable movements
- Magic Realism, mid-century female surrealists (Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varo)
Key inflection points
- 2018: Karma Gallery NYC exhibition (first NY solo since 1952)
- 2022: Hindman single-artist sale breakthrough
- 2024-2025: Major museum retrospective driving further demand
- Market characterization
- Former 'regional Chicago thing' now national/international market
Institutional presence
Research updated
Exhibitions
Solo exhibitions
Gertrude Abercrombie: The Whole World Is a Mystery
- Dates
- January 18 - June 1, 2025
- Venue
- Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh
Touring
- Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, Maine (July 12, 2025 - January 11, 2026)
- Milwaukee Art Museum (dates TBA)
- Catalogue
- Major scholarly publication edited by Eric Crosby and Sarah Humphreville
- Significance
- Most comprehensive museum presentation to date, 85+ works
Gertrude Abercrombie
- Dates
- August 9 - September 23, 2018
- Venue
- Karma Gallery, New York
- Publication
- 400+ page monograph published by Karma
- Significance
- First NYC solo show in 66 years (since 1952), 70 works, curated by Dan Nadel
Gertrude Abercrombie: Portrait of an Artist as a Landscape
- Dates
- January 20 - March 4, 2018
- Venue
- Elmhurst Art Museum
- Dates
- 1977
- Venue
- Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago
- Significance
- Major retrospective in final year of her life, organized by Don Baum
- Dates
- March 18 - May 17, 1991
- Venue
- State of Illinois Art Gallery, Chicago
View 4 more records
- Dates
- July 28 - October 25, 1991
- Venue
- Illinois State Museum, Springfield
- Dates
- 1940s
- Venue
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Dates
- 1940s-1950s
- Venue
- Associated American Artists, New York
- Dates
- 1952
- Venue
- Steven-Gross Gallery, Chicago
Recent inclusions
- Venue
- Arts Club of Chicago
- Timeframe
- Recent years
- Venue
- Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
- Timeframe
- Recent years
- Venue
- Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark
- Timeframe
- Recent years
- Note
- Past presentation
- Venue
- Marianne Boesky Gallery, NY Chelsea
Major group exhibitions
In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States
- Year
- 2012
- Venue
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Extra Ordinary: Magic, Mystery, and Imagination in American Realism
- Year
- 2021
- Venue
- Georgia Museum of Art
- Significance
- Explored Magic Realism in postwar American art
Supernatural America
- Note
- Included Abercrombie work
Chicago Society of Artists
- Year
- 1934
- Venue
- Chicago
- Significance
- First solo show
- Venue
- Katharine Kuh Gallery, Chicago
- Years
- 1936 (with Rita Stein and Nicola Ziroli), 1938
- Significance
- Important Chicago gallery representation
- Year
- 1930s
- Venue
- Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh
1939 World's Fair
- Year
- 1939
- Venue
- New York
- Venue
- Art Institute of Chicago Annual Exhibition of Works by Artists of Chicago and Vicinity
- Years
- 1936 (prize), 1938 (prize)
Museum collections
- Exhibition peak
- Late 1930s through 1950s - exhibited widely in Chicago and New York
Major museum collections
Art Institute of Chicago
- Works
- 11 works (from museum API data)
- Significance
- Major Chicago institution, prizes won 1936 & 1938 at annual exhibitions
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.
- Works
- 11 works (from museum API data)
- Archival holdings
- Gertrude Abercrombie Papers, circa 1880-1986 (Archives of American Art)
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
- Works
- 1 work - Out in the Country (1939)
- Acquisition
- Purchased with funds from Painting and Sculpture Committee, 2020
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
- Note
- Received works from estate
- Works
- Multiple works
Illinois State Museum, Springfield
- Works
- Large portion of collection
- Major exhibitions
- 1991 retrospective, 1983 estate exhibition
View 6 more records
Milwaukee Art Museum
- Works
- Collection holdings
Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Wisconsin
- Works
- Multiple works including 'Where or When (Things Past)' (1948)
DePaul Art Museum, Chicago
- Works
- Collection holdings
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
- Works
- Including 'Self-Portrait, the Striped Blouse' (1940)
Ackland Art Museum, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Works
- Including 'Charlie Parker's Favorite Painting' (1946)
Union League Club of Chicago
- Works
- Including 'Letter from Karl' (circa 1940)
- Note on institutional legacy
- Estate systematically placed works in major Midwest institutions; recent acquisitions by Whitney (2020) signal growing national recognition
Awards and recognition
Scroll horizontally if needed →
| Year | Award |
|---|---|
| 1936 | Prize at Art Institute of Chicago Annual Exhibition |
| 1938 | Prize at Art Institute of Chicago Annual Exhibition |
Career & Biography
Research updated
Career
Early career
- Role
- Commercial illustrator - Mesirow Department Store (glove advertisements)
- Years
- early 1930s
- Role
- Commercial artist - Sears
- Years
- early 1930s
- Role
- WPA Federal Art Project painter
- Years
- 1934-1940
- Significance
- Provided financial independence and artistic validation
Identity
Birth
- Date
- February 17, 1909
- Location
- Austin, Texas, United States
Death
- Date
- July 3, 1977
- Location
- Chicago, Illinois, United States
Marriages
Scroll horizontally if needed →
| Spouse | Married | Children | Divorced | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Livingston (lawyer) | 1940 | Daughter Dinah (born 1942) | 1948 | Not supplied |
| Frank Sandiford (music critic, pen name Paul Warren) | 1948 | Not supplied | 1964 | Dizzy Gillespie performed at their wedding |
Later life
- Estate
- Gertrude Abercrombie Trust established, distributed her work and her collection to Midwest cultural institutions
- Health decline
- From late 1950s - alcoholism, arthritis, financial troubles, became reclusive
- Ceased painting
- After 1959, output diminished in number and scale
- Final exhibition
- Major retrospective at Hyde Park Art Center, 1977
Key locations
- Primary residence
- Hyde Park, Chicago (5728 South Dorchester) - Victorian house from 1940s-1977
- Artistic inspiration
- Aledo, Illinois - father's hometown, source of landscape imagery (slaughterhouse ruins, pruned trees)
Social circle
Writers
- Thornton Wilder
- James Purdy (featured her in his works)
- Saul Bellow
Jazz musicians
- Dizzy Gillespie (close friend, described her as 'the first bop artist')
- Charlie Parker
- Sarah Vaughan
- Sonny Rollins
- Max Roach
- Jackie Cain
- Modern Jazz Quartet
- Musical legacy
- Richie Powell wrote 'Gertrude's Bounce' inspired by her walk
- Hyde park salon
- Her Victorian house on South Dorchester Street was central to Chicago's bohemian art and jazz scene, 1940s-1960s
Family background
- Parents
- Tom and Lula Janes Abercrombie - traveling opera singers
- Upbringing
- Strict Christian Scientist household
- Early locations
- Born in Austin (parents on tour), lived in Berlin 1913 (mother's career), Aledo Illinois 1915, settled Hyde Park Chicago 1916
Artistic development
Influences
- René Magritte (called him her 'spiritual daddy')
- Gertrude Stein (met 1935, influenced approach to repetition and inside/outside)
- Giorgio de Chirico (architectural elements)
- Paul Delvaux
- Jazz music - bebop aesthetics
- First exhibition
- Chicago Society of Artists solo show, 1934
Artistic philosophy
Self-described as largely self-taught; 'I am not interested in complicated things nor in the commonplace. I like to paint simple things that are a little strange. My work comes directly from my inner consciousness and it must come easily.' Also stated: 'I don't think I'm a very good painter but I do think I'm a good artist.'
- Began serious painting
- 1932
Artistic Profile
Research updated
Influences
Influences and context
- Jazz bebop
- Flatted fifth' aesthetic - offbeat, way out there, improvisational, mysterious
- European surrealism
- Magritte (primary influence), de Chirico (architecture), Tanguy (skies), but more American and pragmatic
- Influence on others
- Chicago Imagists (Christina Ramberg, Jim Nutt, Roger Brown); contemporary artists like Christina Quarles and Loie Hollowell
- Midwest regionalism
- Psychological landscape of Midwest, Aledo imagery, Chicago specificity
- American magic realism
- Part of broader American movement 1930s-1970s blending fantasy and realism
Themes and subjects
Symbolic meanings
- Choice
- Doors as thresholds, forking paths, decisions
- Duality
- Shadows that don't match figures, split personalities, inside/outside ambiguity
- Identity
- Self-portraits exploring different roles and facets
- Isolation
- Spare interiors, solitary figures, barren landscapes
- Interiority
- Room as psychic self-portrait, inner consciousness externalized
- Witch imagery
- Brooms, cats, owls, black attire - embraced witch persona
Recurring subjects
- Solitary female figures (often self-portraits)
- Cats (black cats, familiar spirits)
- Owls
- Barren/dead trees (especially pruned tree from Aledo)
- Doors (freestanding, demolition doors)
- Moons (crescent and full)
- Shells
- Eggs
- Dominoes and dice
- Ladders
- Towers and pyramids
- Carnations (pink)
- Victorian furniture
- Gloves
- Masks
- Paintings within paintings
Movements and periods
Signature works
Scroll horizontally if needed →
| Year | Title | Significance | Collection |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | Silo at Aledo | Auction record holder, iconic Aledo landscape | Not supplied |
| 1946 | Charlie Parker's Favorite Painting | Political work with lynching imagery (noose in tree), jazz connection | Not supplied |
| 1940 | Self-Portrait, the Striped Blouse | Key self-portrait, last year of WPA | Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts |
| 1956 | The Magician | Second-highest auction price, small work (8x10 inches) | Not supplied |
| 1953 | Self and Cat (Possims) | Rare larger scale (34x24 inches), artist with her cat | Not supplied |
| 1964 | Demolition Doors | Response to Hyde Park urban renewal and racial displacement | Not supplied |
| 1971 | The Door and the Rock | Late work, signature door series | Not supplied |
| 1939 | Out in the Country | Recent major museum acquisition (2020) | Whitney Museum |
Art historical positioning
Peers
Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varo (female surrealists); Ivan Albright (Chicago dark surrealism); Peter Blume, George Tooker (American Magic Realists)
- Legacy
- Expanded boundaries of American modernism beyond New York; prefigured Chicago Imagists; model for autobiographical surrealist practice
- Movement
- American Surrealism / Magic Realism / Midwestern Surrealism
Distinctiveness
Only major female surrealist based in Chicago; unique fusion of European surrealism, American regionalism, jazz aesthetics, and feminist autobiography
- Current relevance
- Resonates with contemporary concerns about identity, isolation, witchcraft/occult revival, feminist revisionism
Techniques and mediums
- Scale
- Mostly small (postage stamp to postcard size common), occasionally medium (24x30 inches rare), almost never large
Palette
Restrained - greys, whites, blacks with occasional rich tones (azure, forest green, shell pink, oxblood); grey skies often infused with purples and blues
- Materials
- Oil on canvas, oil on masonite, oil on board
- Technique
- Self-taught approach, criticized for drawing ability (reportedly couldn't draw legs well, hence long skirts), but effective compositional sense
- Painting style
- Precise, controlled, smooth surfaces
- Working method
- From inner consciousness, dreams, real objects and places transformed; easy, intuitive process; selection and reduction
Critical Reception
Research updated
Critical reception
Key scholars
Dr. Susan Weininger
- Role
- Leading scholar, authentication expert
- Affiliation
- Professor Emerita of Art History, Roosevelt University, Chicago
- Publications
- Multiple essays and catalogue contributions
Robert Cozzolino
- Role
- Curator and Abercrombie scholar
- Contribution
- Essays on her artistic context and jazz connections
Eric Crosby
- Role
- Co-curator of major 2025 retrospective
- Affiliation
- Henry J. Heinz II Director, Carnegie Museum of Art
Sarah Humphreville
- Role
- Co-curator of major 2025 retrospective
- Affiliation
- Lunder Curator of American Art, Colby College Museum of Art
Jeffrey Richmond-Moll
- Contribution
- Curator of 'Extra Ordinary: Magic Realism' exhibition, scholarship on American Magic Realism
- Dissertations
- Growing academic interest
Major reviews
- Date
- April 2025
- Note
- Featured review in April 2025 issue
- Reviewer
- Paula Burleigh
- Exhibition
- Carnegie Museum retrospective
- Publication
- Artforum
- Date
- March 2025
- Exhibition
- Carnegie Museum retrospective
- Publication
- Art in America
- Date
- Multiple articles 2022-2025
- Publication
- Artnet News
- Significance
- Market analysis and exhibition coverage
- Date
- March 2025
- Reviewer
- Sarah Lehrer-Graiwer
- Exhibition
- Carnegie Museum retrospective
- Publication
- Frieze
- Date
- April 2025 issue
- Note
- Major feature article
- Author
- Claire Barliant
- Publication
- Apollo Magazine
View 8 more records
- Date
- March 2025
- Note
- Art criticism specialist publication
- Author
- David Carrier
- Publication
- Two Coats of Paint
'Gertrude Abercrombie: The Whole World Is a Mystery' Review: Modest Paintings, Major Effects
- Date
- March 15, 2025
- Reviewer
- Peter Plagens
- Publication
- Wall Street Journal
- Date
- 2025
- Note
- Exhibition coverage
- Publication
- Hyperallergic
- Date
- February 13, 2025
- Focus
- Book review of exhibition catalogue
- Publication
- New City Lit
- Date
- 2022
- Focus
- Market analysis and auction coverage
- Publication
- The Art Newspaper
- Note
- Featured in articles (MutualArt data)
- Publication
- ArtLyst
- Note
- Featured in articles (MutualArt data)
- Publication
- Observer
- Date
- February 2025
- Focus
- Art market analysis
- Publication
- Puck
- Archival resources
- Smithsonian Archives of American Art - extensive papers collection (5.9 linear feet, 1880-1986)
Catalogue raisonne
- Status
- No published catalogue raisonné
- Authentication
- Dr. Susan Weininger serves as authentication expert
- Documentation challenges
- Artist sold/gifted works directly, imperfect record-keeping
Critical consensus
Key quotes
- Dizzy Gillespie: 'She was the first bop artist. Bop in the sense that she has taken the essence of our music and transported it to another art form.'
- Abercrombie: 'Incongruity is the secret of art.'
- Abercrombie: 'I don't think I'm a very good painter but I do think I'm a good artist.'
- Roberta Smith (NYT critic): Exhibition afforded artist 'a new visibility that should be coaxed into an even greater fullness.'
- Classification
- American Surrealist, Magic Realist (though never perfectly categorized)
- Distinctiveness
- Distinctly American, female voice to European male-dominated Surrealism; terser, more pragmatic sensibility than European counterparts
Key characteristics
- Personal iconography (cats, owls, doors, moons, barren trees, shells)
- Autobiographical content transformed through dreams
- Small-scale works with meticulous detail
- Restrained palette (greys, whites, blacks, occasional rich tones)
- Repetition as strategy (influenced by Gertrude Stein)
- Jazz/bebop sensibility - 'flatted fifth' aesthetic
- Paintings within paintings, inside/outside ambiguity
Critical reception evolution
- 1930s-1950s: Successful local (Chicago) reputation, critical praise
- 1960s-1990s: Largely forgotten, 'regional' artist
- 2018-present: Major revival, national/international recognition
- Current: Positioned as important American modernist, influence on contemporary artists
- Institutional interest
- High and growing - major museums organizing exhibitions
- Conference presentations
- Increasingly featured in American art and Surrealism conferences
Publications and media
- Podcasts
- Gertrude's Bounce playlist (Spotify) curated for Carnegie exhibition by John Corbett
- Broadcast
- Studs Terkel interview July 1977 (shortly before death)
- Recent surge
- 2024-2025 retrospective generating extensive press
- Social media
- Growing Instagram and online presence through galleries and museums
Major publications
Gertrude Abercrombie: The Whole World Is a Mystery
- Year
- 2025
- Essays
- Katie Anania, Donna Cassidy, John Corbett, includes Studs Terkel interview
- Editors
- Eric Crosby, Sarah Humphreville
- Publisher
- Carnegie Museum of Art / Colby College Museum of Art
- Significance
- Definitive scholarly volume, 200+ color images
Gertrude Abercrombie
- Year
- 2018
- Pages
- 400+
- Editor
- Dan Nadel
- Essays
- Robert Storr, Susan Weininger, Robert Cozzolino, Dinah Livingston (daughter), Studs Terkel interview
- Publisher
- Karma Books, New York
- Significance
- First major monograph, accompanied Karma Gallery exhibition
Gertrude Abercrombie
- Year
- 1991
- Authors
- Kent Smith and Susan Weininger
- Publisher
- Illinois State Museum
- Significance
- Exhibition catalogue, early scholarly treatment
Gallery & Representation
Research updated
Representation
- Address
- 188 East 2nd Street, New York
- Relationship
- Represents estate, began showing 2018
- Significance
- Tastemaker gallery credited with reviving her market and reputation
Other dealers
Scroll horizontally if needed →
| Name | Note |
|---|---|
| Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, New York | Currently showing work at multiple venues |
| Ortuzar Projects, New York | Has shown work |
| Lincoln Glenn Gallery, New York | Private collection works |
| Sullivan Goss - An American Gallery, Montecito | Shown in exhibitions |
| Schoelkopf Gallery | Exhibition supporter |
Market presence
- Art fairs
- Work appears at major fairs through representing galleries
- Availability
- Limited - estate controls supply, works increasingly held by museums and collectors
- Secondary market
- Strong presence at Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams, Hindman/Freeman's, Wright
- Primary gallery
- Karma, New York (East Village)
Estate management
- Trust
- Gertrude Abercrombie Trust
- Executor
- Don Baum (artist/curator, Hyde Park Art Center, d. after organizing 1977 retrospective)
- Current management
- Works through galleries including Karma
- Distribution strategy
- Systematic placement in cultural institutions, selective market release
Pricing structure
- Price drivers
- Size (small works premium), period (1950s peak), subject matter (self-portraits, door series command premiums), provenance, condition
- Primary market
- Contact Karma Gallery for available works and current pricing
- Secondary market transparency
- High - regular auction results provide price guidance
Historical gallery representation
- Note
- Artist 'peddled her wares' at art fairs, sold directly to collectors, gave works to friends - unconventional distribution
Primary sales channels
- Katharine Kuh Gallery, Chicago (1930s-1940s exhibitions)
- Marshall Field's department store gallery (1960s)
- 57th Street Art Fair, Hyde Park (direct sales)
- Direct sales and gifts to friends/collectors from her home
- Lifetime representation
- Never had major gallery representation during lifetime
Sources & research notes
Egon’s artist research combines historical auction records, recent sales, institutional history, critical reception and gallery information. Researched auction records and auction highlights are identified separately.
Read prices with their work, sale date, currency and stated basis. Egon’s market assessments are distinct from reported auction results.
Reference: Egon, “Gertrude Abercrombie: Market Intelligence & Investment Profile.”
Research updates by section
These dates show when Egon’s research sections were updated. Source retrieval dates, where supplied above, refer to individual evidence notes.
Ranking updated . Research sections follow their own update dates.
This is what the market knows about Gertrude Abercrombie. What Egon can also tell you: whether Gertrude Abercrombie fits your portfolio — based on your existing holdings, budget, and investment timeline.
Get personalized analysisActive market signals
Inside Egon
Signal timeline & strength analysis
Gallery moves, auction records, institutional acquisitions, price milestones — tracked over 90 days
Full signal timeline, strength analysis, and alert configuration for Gertrude Abercrombie.
Collector demographics & buyer analysis
Geographic distribution, institutional vs. private buyers, collector profiles, and secondary market activity
Who is collecting Gertrude Abercrombie? Geographic distribution, institutional vs. private buyers, and collector profile analysis.
Personalized acquisition strategy
Optimal entry points, comparable pricing analysis, timing recommendations, and portfolio fit assessment
Personalized acquisition strategy for Gertrude Abercrombie based on your budget, timeline, and collection goals.
Go deeper with personalized intelligence
You now have Egon's market assessment of Gertrude Abercrombie. The next question is personal: does this artist belong in your collection? Egon analyzes collection fit based on your aesthetic thesis, existing holdings, budget, and investment goals — delivering acquisition strategies no public index can provide.