Final week – Adam Grant exhibit at Midwest Museum of American Art

"Seeds of Destruction" by Adam Grochowski Grant, 1946 — “Seeds of Destruction” watercolor and ink on paper by Adam Grochowski Grant, 1946

Midwest Museum of American Art displays recent Adam Grant art acquisitions

"Seeds of Rebirth" by Adam Grochowski Grant, 1946 — “Seeds of Rebirth” watercolor and ink on paper by Adam Grochowski Grant, 1946

Peggy Grant’s bequest of two “Holocaust Series” paintings unveiled in themed exhibition

The exhibit, A Holocaust Remembrance: Selected Works by Adam Grant, currently on display at the Midwest Museum of American Art (MMAA) unveils the museum’s recent acquisitions of paintings by the late Toledo artist, Adam (Grochowski) Grant. The exhibit opened January 12 and runs through April 11, 2021 at the Elkhart, Indiana museum.

Adam Grochowski self portrait in Regensburg, 1947-48 — Adam Grochowski self portrait in Regensburg, Germany displaced persons camp, 1947-48

Born in Poland in 1924, Adam Grochowski was imprisoned in the notorious Nazi death camps Mauthausen and Auschwitz, using his artistic skills to survive and defy his captors. Upon liberation, he immigrated to the United States—Americanizing his name to Grant—where he worked first as a commercial artist and then as a fine artist until his death in 1992.

Adam Grochowski working in Regensburg displaced persons camp — Adam Grochowski painting his “Renewed Hope: Serenade” in the displaced persons camp, 1947

Before her death in 2019, his widow Margaret “Peggy” Grant specified a bequest to MMAA of two paintings from her late husband’s Holocaust Series, which he had completed in a displaced persons camp in Regensburg, Germany in 1946. The selected watercolor and ink on paper works are Seeds of Destruction and Seeds of Rebirth, allegorical paintings Grant created in an attempt to exorcise the horrors he experienced during the Holocaust.

Dr. John Dooner, His Excellency Adam Kulach, Rachael Sodeman and Peggy Grant at 20 North Gallery, 2016 — Dr. John Dooner, His Excellency Adam Kulach, Rachael Sodeman and Peggy Grant at 20 North Gallery, standing before the “Renewed Hope” and “Holocaust Series” paintings in 2016

On September 27, 2020, 20 North Gallery owner Eric Hillenbrand and art director Condessa Croninger, as the representatives of the Adam Grant Art Estate, escorted the paintings to Elkhart and delivered them into the Midwest Museum’s permanent collection.

"The Pale Horse," oil on canvas by Adam Grant — “The Pale Horse,” oil on canvas by Adam Grant

Also debuting in the exhibit at MMAA is Grant’s final Holocaust Series painting, The Pale Horse, an oil on canvas work completed in 1970 and donated to the museum from the collection of Robert Rice, a friend and patron of the artist. These three newly acquired paintings are displayed alongside MMAA’s previous acquisitions of Grant’s work.

The Midwest Museum of American Art is located at 429 South Main St., Elkhart, Indiana 46516 / (574) 293-6660 / midwestmuseum.org