Harry Kramer first gained public recognition in the 1970s with solo shows at the Brata Gallery and 55 Mercer Street Gallery, critically acclaimed alternative spaces in New York City. In the 1980s his work was highlighted in “Six Painters” at the Hudson River Museum with a catalog essay by the director Peter Langlykke. He enjoyed outstanding critical response to his numerous New York City shows in the following decades, including at the Greunebaum Gallery, the Charles Cowles Gallery, and Ameringer and Yohe Gallery.
The eminent art historian Dore Ashton wrote of Kramer’ work: “Kramer is, then, a lover of paint and a lover of nature. But it doesn’t stop there. It takes many years to get acquainted with the myriad effects available in the repertory provided by oil paint. Kramer has stayed the course and is now a mature painter thoroughly acquainted with each turn of the brush and every surface possible, for the painter who knows how to build, stroke by stroke, from the ground up. These are paintings that have to be looked at with keen attention, from the ground up, literally.”
Kramer earned his BFA from the Philadelphia College of Art in 1962 and an MFA from Yale University in 1965. In 2013, he received grants from the Robert Lehman Foundation and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation. He was also a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in 1982 and two CAPS/New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowships, among other prestigious prizes.
Kramer’s work is represented in many public and private collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Yale University Art Gallery, the Hudson River Museum, the Detroit Institute of Art, the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse, Chase Manhattan Bank, and Philip Morris.
