Letter from Karl

Gertrude Abercrombie was a Chicago Surrealist. Her painting Letter to Karl is riddled with mystery and dream imagery. There is a picture within a picture, wherein a woman lounges before a full moon. Could this be Gertrude? And what about the carnations---did the flowers come from the sender of the letter that rests on the table? Has the letter been opened? 

Abercrombie’s oeuvre often features recurring motifs such as full moons, leafless trees, and quotidian objects like cats, snails, and shells. In this particular work, a letter bears the address of her first independent apartment in Chicago’s Hyde Park: "5642 Harper."　 The author of the depicted letter is more allusive as the only legible portion of the return address shows the initials "KP," likely referring to her friend Karl Priebe, a celebrated painter in his own right from Wisconsin.