NEW ULM — Early 20th-century artist-illustrator-author Wanda Gag’s creative development began long before the famous New Ulm native moved to New York City. She and her six siblings’ artistic talents and forward thinking can be credited to their parents, especially their photographer-painter father, Anton Gag.
They — along with many other children who lived in New Ulm at the time — were strongly influenced by a social group with German roots that emphasized teaching youth to be physically fit and to respect free speech, liberal politics and their Bohemian heritage.
“We are a Turner town,” said Brown County Historical Society research librarian Darla Gebhard, referring to the Turnverein Society’s members who settled in New Ulm in the 1900s.
Artwork by Gag, as well as background information about the society are on display at BCHS museum, 2 N. Broadway St. The exhibit “Fertile Ground: Wanda Gag and the Turner Roots of Freedom” is on display indefinitely, but at least through 2026. “The Turners believed women get to wear pants, women are to be valued,” said the exhibit’s curator, Alexander Roth, of rural New Ulm.
He said evidence of the society’s effect on Gag shows up in her many illustrated books, including the beloved “Millions of Cats” published in 1928 and “Tales From Grimm” in 1936. Both books are still in print.
A variety of works by Gag, as well as several of her personal objects, are featured in the museum’s second-floor gallery. Many of the art pieces have never been exhibited in New Ulm. Roth is especially proud to show a drawing created on an uncommon artist material.
“Wanda worked on sandpaper and she used color — that makes it really rare,” he said.
Gebhard is credited with gathering and tracking works in the show, as well as offering Roth insights on Gag’s life.
“One day when we were talking about Wanda, Darla said, ‘Did you know she was on the government’s enemies list?’” Roth recalled.
He said Gag had relatively loose connections to individuals and organizations thought to have anti-American agendas. For example, she’d created illustrations used on the covers of progressive publications.
Throughout most of her career, Gag lived on the East Coast. She had been enrolled in classes in Minnesota-St. Paul before 1917, when she won a scholarship to attend the Art Students League in New York.
Like Gag, Roth lived and worked in New York City. In 2024, Roth was invited to contribute to discussions about Gag in conjunction with a retrospective show of her works at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. The curator of “The World of Wanda Gag” was very interested in hearing about her life in New Ulm, he said.
After Roth’s return to Minnesota a few years ago, he’s deepened his research into Gag’s life. He’s also begun leading discussions about her art.
In November, during a presentation for the American Association of University Women’s St. Paul branch, he will discuss Gag’s legacy to the art world and Minnesota.
The AAUW is credited with preserving a major collection of Gag’s works after her death in 1946. Many of those works are incorporated into the “Fertile Ground” exhibit.
“I am so glad we get to have this show Wanda’s hometown,” Gebhard said.