Circular Motion

Georges Schreiber was a well-known American Scene painter at the height of his career in the 1930s and 1940s. Born in Brussels, Belgium in 1904, Schreiber's earliest art instruction was the German Real Gymnasium in Brussels (1913-1918). He also studied at the Arts and Crafts School in Elberfeld, Germany (1920), and at the Academies of Fine Art in Berlin and in Dusseldorf (1922). In 1928, when he came to the United States, Schreiber contributed his drawings and cartoons to most of New York's daily papers to give himself a basis of support until he found a dealer to represent him. He set up a studio at 145 West 14th Street. Brownwell-Lampson Galleries represented Schreiber until 1931. After that, his dealers in New York were ACA Galleries and Associated American Artists Gallery. Stendhal Galleries in Los Angeles also handled his work for many years. From 1936 to 1939, Georges Schreiber made six long trips touring the United States painting and sketching life from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and from Maine to Oregon. The paintings captured the characteristics of Americans in every state. He exhibited these paintings at Associated American Artists so successfully that they were all sold before the show opened. The proceeds of this exhibition allowed Schreiber to purchase a summer home on Martha's Vineyard, where his neighbor and good friend was Thomas Hart Benton. During this time, Schreiber became a regular exhibitor at the annual and biennial exhibitions held at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art. From 1941 to 1945, Schreiber was commissioned by the United States Army and Navy to do a series of works. One project in 1943 was a joint effort with his friend Thomas Hart Benton to capture life aboard a submarine.