Sterling Strauser was born in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania and became a painter in expressionist/impressionist styles who used a heavy impasto technique. He began painting in 1926 in a near impressionist style that later evolved into an assertive Klee-like modernism. Still later his style softened into what one collector, Jim Sittig, of his work termed "romantic American expressionism." He was also an illustrator for "Mademoiselle" magazine and "Unicorn-A Magazine of Poetry".

Fellow artist, Russian David Burliuk, a member of the Blaue Reiter group in Munich, said of Strauser: "It is amazing to find a self-taught artist in a quaint little provincial village painting like the masters in the great art centers of the world."

With his wife, Dorothy, he was a collector and promoter of folk art, and for many years was a teacher, office manager, and supervisor of the boiler works at the Pocono, Pennsylvania public schools. Many of his sketching trips were into the Pocono Mountains.

In 1996, a retrospective show was held at the Lyzon Gallery in Nashville, Tennessee. An exhibition of his work, "A Modernist Revisited," was held at the Reading Public Museum in PennsylvaniaNov. 27, 1999-Feb. 27, 2000.

Source:
Peter Falk, "Who Was Who in American Art"

Boyd Strauser was born in Bloomsburg, PA on August 15, 1907. He received his BA degree from Bloomsburg State College and married Dorothy Ferry, his high school sweetheart, in June 1928. Starting to work at a boiler works company as a shipping clerk, he rose to become the secretary of the company. Before his retirement in 1962, his painting was limited to evenings, his interest in art having been kindled as a child by a gift of crayons from an aunt.

The Zimbalist Gallery in New York showed his work in 1939 where many pieces were sold and the reviews were positive. Currently his works are being shown worldwide and are included in the permanent collections of Allentown Museum of Art, Allentown, PA; Everhart Museum, Scranton, PA; Cheekwood Museum, Nashville, TN; Maier Museum or Art (Randolph-Macon Woman's College), Lynchburg, VA; Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN; The American Museum in Britain, Bath, England; Leigh University, Bethlehem, PA; and a number of corporate collections.

Strauser, whose German name is translated "one who binds the flowers," paints many subjects but is best known for his florals. His eye for color combined with his opulent strokes make him a major impressionist artist who contends "a painting has a personality all its own." Fellow artist, David Burliuk, said of Strauser, "It is amazing to find a self-taught artist in a quaint little provincial village painting like the masters in the great art centers of the world."

Studied: Bloomsburg State College, B.A. Member: The Delaware River Gap Arts Association, where there an annual Sterling Strauser Award. Work: Vanderbilt University, Allentown M. Of Art. Cheek wood Museum, Nashville, TN; The American Museum in Britain, Bath, England; Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA; The White House, Washington, Dc; and a number of corporate collections.

Sterling Strauser was born in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. He began painting in 1926 in a near impressionist style that later evolved into a powerful Klee-like modernism. Still later his style softened into what one collector of his work termed "romantic American expressionism." He was also an illustrator for Mademoiselle magazine and Unicorn-A Magazine of Poetry.

Fellow artist, Russian David Burliuk, a member of the Blaue Reiter group in Munich, said of Strauser: "It is amazing to find a self-taught artist in a quaint little provincial village painting like the masters in the great art centers of the world."

With his wife, Dorothy, he was a collector and promoter of folk art, and for many years was a teacher, office manager, and supervisor of the boiler works at the Pocono, Pennsylvania public schools. Many of his sketching trips were into the Pocono Mountains. In 1996, a retrospective show was held at the Lyzon Gallery in Nashville, Tennessee. The most recent exhibition of his work, "A Modernist Revisited," was held at the Reading Public Museum in Pennsylvania from November 27, 1999 through Feb. 27, 2000.

Studied:
with George Keller
Bloomsburg State College, BA

Member:
Folk Art Society of America
Delaware River Gap Arts Association (annually awards the Sterling
Strauser Award)

Work:
Cheekwood Museum, Nashville, Tennessee
Everhart Museum of Natural History, Science and Art, Scranton,
Lehigh University Art Galleries, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
American Museum in Britain, Bath, England
Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, Pennsylvania
Cigna Museum, Philadelphia
East Stroudsburg University College of Art
Maier Museum of Art, Randolph-Macon Woman's College, Lynchburg, Virginia
The White House, Washington, DC
Many corporate collections

Exhibited:
Salons of America, 1934
Art USA, New York City, 1958
Everhart Museum, 1958 (award)
Municipal Art Gallery, Davenport, Iowa, 1959
Lehigh University, 1961
William Penn Museum, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 1973
Worthington Avenue Gallery
Zimbalist Gallery, New York City, 1939
Shawnee-on Delaware, Pennsylvania, 1990s
Lyzon Gallery, Nashville, TN, 1996 (retrospective)
"A Modernist Revisited," Reading Public Museum, Pennsylvania,
Pennsylvania 2000

References:
Falk, Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975
Lyzon Gallery, Nashville, Tennessee
Reading Public Museum, Sterling Strauser, A Modernist Revisited
Dunbier (ed.), The Artists Bluebook: 34,000 North American Artists to March 2005
Bowker, Who's Who in American Art 1993-94, 20th Edition
Jaques Cattell Press, Who's Who in American Art 1986
Jaques Cattell Press, Who's Who in American Art 12th Edition