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LaVerne Erickson Krause

American, 1924-1987


Details
Names

LaVerne Erickson Krause

Krause, LaVerne Erickson

Born

Portland 1924

Active

Oregon

Occupation or Type

painter

printmaker

Northwest artist

Oregon artist

Bio

LaVerne Krause was orphaned as a child. She later won an art scholarship to the University of Oregon. She studied under Jack Wilkinson and considered him to be her greatest teacher. She married and, when her children were small, painted from her home. When they were old enough to attend school, she began taking classes at the Museum Art School. Included in her exhibitions during this time was a four-woman show at the Kharouba Gallery with LaVon Lucas, Amanda Snyder, and Jolan Torok.

In 1959 Krause's style moved toward abstract expressionism. Her palette ranged from hot purple, red, and turquoise to cool pastels, with the color applied in repeating bands. She believed light and color were central to conveying the mood of what was experienced. Form was conveyed through a tension between positive and negative, frontality and deep space, and between paint and the raw linen that was her canvas of choice. Her early paintings showed bridges, cities, and architecture--used for their structural qualities as well as their evocative powers. As her painting matured, she stripped them down to the simplest forms, using color and light to develop her vision.

Krause was instrumental in founding the Oregon Artists Equity. In 1959 she began teaching at the Museum Art School and later at the Arts and Crafts Society and the University of Oregon. As her interest in printmaking increased, she helped to establish the Northwest Print Council. Krause was the founder of the printmaking program at the University of Oregon.

In her lifetime she produced over ten thousand prints and paintings. In 1980 LaVerne Krause was recognized with the Oregon Governor's Art Award, the highest honor an Oregon artist can receive.

Artist biography reproduced with permission from the authors, Oregon Painters: the First Hundred Years (1859-1959), Ginny Allen and Jody Klevit.

Gender

Female

Related People

Associate of: Vi Gale (American, born Sweden, 1917-2007)

Partner: Francis J. Newton (American, 1912-2004)

Associate of: Amanda Snyder (American, 1894-1980)

Associate of: Jolan Torak (Hungarian, active United States, 1962-?)

Student of: Jack Wilkinson (American, 1913-1974)

Related Artworks
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