NEW ULM - Members of the Gag House Association received a pleasant surprise Tuesday afternoon when they opened up a package containing a painting by Wanda Gag.
The members gathered at The Bohemian Bed and Breakfast, sipping champagne as they looked on while the painting was revealed for the first time.
The painting features two girls looking into a pond. Their reflection appears in the water amid lily pads.
It is believed that Wanda Gag painted the piece while she was in art school in Minneapolis, when she was about age 20.
Wanda Gag was born in New Ulm in 1893 and lived here until her late teens. She became a nationally recognized artist as well as an illustrator and author of children's book, the most famous of which is "Millions of Cats" - first published in 1928 and still in print today.
"It's beautiful," said Bobbi McCrea, owner of The Bohemian B & B and a fan of Gag's artistry.
"It's so different from what she usually does - but it reminds me a lot of her early work. Wanda didn't care for art school. ... She thought it was tedious. ... I think basically she wanted to do her own thing."
The painting was given to the Gag House Association by Mary Johnson, the granddaughter of the man who was superintendent of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts during the 1920s to the 1960s.
Johnson gifted the piece which had been part of her father's collection.
"This is great. It's so neat ... it's so special," said Diana Lee Schaefer, a member of the Wanda Gag Association. "It's very child-oriented. It's different - it's out of the ordinary of what we have."
The painting was probably done using the medium of Tempera or gauche, according to Pat Jirsa.
The painting will likely be taken to the Kramer Art Gallery in downtown Minneapolis. The gallery does art restoration work, Schaefer said.
