Belle Klauber Cramer

Belle Cramer was a prolific painter active in St. Louis in the mid- to late-twentieth century. Born in New York City, Cramer first established herself in Edinburgh, Scotland, when she moved there with her husband, William Cramer, a doctor, in 1906. After her husband convinced her to pursue a career in fine art, Cramer attended the Edinburgh College of Art from 1909 to 1913, and later the Massey Art School in London when the family moved there in 1915. In London, Cramer became associated with a group of progressive artists known as “The London Group,” and began exhibiting frequently. In fact, Cramer was a well-established artist even before her time in St. Louis, appearing in some of London’s most respected galleries in her twenty-four years there.

In 1940, William Cramer obtained a new position at the Barnard Free Skin and Cancer Hospital, and the family relocated to St. Louis. Cramer engaged in the local arts scene almost immediately, participating in an exhibition at the St. Louis Art Museum in November of 1940 and mounting her first solo exhibition at Eleanor Smith Galleries in 1941. A member of the St. Louis Artists’ Guild and Group 15, a small but prolific collective of progressive artists, Cramer participated in hundreds of exhibitions during her nearly forty active years in St. Louis, including solo, group and retrospective shows. In addition to her demanding exhibition schedule, Cramer also taught at the People’s Art Center from 1943-1944 and at the YMCA School of Informal Education from 1950-1961.

Working primarily in oil, Cramer’s work was characterized by a mastery of color, which she considered “a rich sensuous vehicle ... the great mysterious instrument of painting.” Her vast body of work is unified by the use of bright, vivid hues, originally in representations of landscapes and still-life, and later in more abstract forms. Cramer’s turn toward abstraction was prompted partly by her association with American painter Paul Burlin, whose abstract expressionist works she first encountered while he was teaching at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts. A lifelong learner, Cramer went to Los Angeles in 1954 to study with Burlin, considered her most influential teacher, at the University of Southern California.

Despite this stylistic shift in her work, Cramer’s concern with color and expression remained just as evident in her abstract canvases as in her more representational work. Cramer stated that her favorite subjects were “invented themes on nature and space,” the colorful, kinetic shapes in her paintings evoking plants, landscapes, even celestial bodies. Reviewing her work in 1950, Aline Saarinen noted the “intense Chagall-like colors” and “rare vitality and emotional impact” that became the artist’s trademark.

Another of Cramer’s strong influences was Fred Becker, a St. Louis printmaker, teacher, and fellow member of Group 15. Cramer studied printmaking with Becker at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts in the late 1950s, leading to numerous awards for her etchings and woodblocks.

The vibrancy of Cramer’s work was matched equally by her vibrant personality. Widowed in 1945 while she was in her early sixties, Cramer adopted the St. Louis art community as a kind of surrogate family and came to be regarded as one of its matriarchs, often nicknamed the “grande dame of St. Louis painters” ("Among Recent Acquisitions," 7). Outside of her rigorous professional life, Cramer was known to host large parties at her apartment on Delmar Boulevard, entertaining established St. Louisans as well as bright young artists. Telling of her reputation among St. Louis artists is the 1970 surprise St. Louis Artists’ Guild exhibition titled Love That Belle Day dedicated solely to Cramer. The laudatory exhibition celebrated her prolific career, her work, and the many contributions she made to the Guild and the St. Louis art community at large.

While Cramer’s enthusiasm for art never waned, she was forced to curtail her painting in 1975 due to failing eyesight. Her career is remembered not only for the incredible volume of work that she produced, but for her charm, vivacity, and dedication to her community and place. Her work can still be seen at various institutions in the St. Louis region, including one piece at the Saint Louis Art Museum, accepted into the permanent collection in 1971.