The Midwest Museum of American Art is pleased to announce the recent gift of six (6) works by John Schacht from Jane Wenger and the Kohler Foundation, Inc.
John Schacht (February 12, 1938 – August 10, 2009) was a self-trained, American artist based in the Midwest. His art ranges from biomorphic abstract paintings to folk-inspired, semi-representational drawings to ritual-like performances, altars and assemblages. Critics sometimes relate his work to Chicago Imagism due to shared affinities for fantastical and erotic imagery, Pop art-like psychedelia, and folk-art and vernacular sources. Friends and colleagues have stated, however, that Schacht, who exhibited inconsistently during his lifetime, was never part of that circle. Schacht was a pre-Stonewall generation gay man; New Art Examiner critic Michel Segard sees in his work a “palpable” sense of the emotional isolation of the closeted gay culture of the 1970s and 1980s. Schacht’s work has received its fullest recognition posthumously, through reviews in The New York Times, New Art Examiner, The Brooklyn Rail and Vulture of exhibitions at The Knockdown Center in Queens, New York (2016) and Iceberg Projects in Chicago (2018).
The Kohler Foundation was established in 1940. As Kohler Foundation has expanded and grown, so has their support for the arts and education. Since the 1970’s, the preservation of art environments, folk architecture, and collections by self-taught artists has been a major focus of Kohler Foundation. The Kohler Foundation is active outside of Wisconsin with preserved art environments in Louisiana, Kansas, Ohio, Maine, and Georgia. Over the past several years, gifts of art have been made to nearly 100 institutions ranging from prestigious museums to colleges and universities and other non-profits both small and large. This ensures the art will be cared for in perpetuity and made accessible to the public. Collections have included art created by self-taught and relatively unknown artists as well as prominent artists who are recognized regionally and/or nationally.