Franz Altschuler: Child Artist in the Shadow of Nazism

Franz Altschuler (1923-2009) was known in Chicago as an artist, illustrator, educator, and activist. He studied at the Institute of Design (formerly the New Bauhaus in Chicago) under the renowned Bauhaus Master László Moholy-Nagy and later joined the faculty there himself. During World War II, he served with the U.S. Army in Europe, and the drawings and documents he created during this period are now part of the Pritzker Military Museum & Library collection.

This exhibition presents, for the first time, a collection of works created by Franz Altschuler between the ages of nine and twelve while attending the Jewish Herrlingen Country Boarding School in Germany. Produced prior to his family's emigration to the United States in 1936, these works reveal the startling artistic output of a Jewish child in the shadow of Hitler's rise to power.

The Public Reception takes place on Thursday, December 3, 5 – 8 p.m.

Viewings take place from December 3 - January 22, during regular museum hours.