Jack N. Kramer
(1923-1983)
Jack N. Kramer was born in Lynn, Massachusetts in 1923. He moved to Boston at age 10 and attended the Vocational High School Art Classes at the Museum of Fine Arts. In 1941, Kramer entered the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, studying under Karl Zerbe. He left his studies for three years while serving in Europe during WWII. Kramer returned to Boston and completed his studies in 1949. He received a scholarship which allowed him to study in Europe from 1950-1953. He attended the Academie de la Grand Chaumiere in Paris and the Instituto Statale Del’Arte in Florence, Italy. Upon his return to the United States, Kramer enrolled at the Rhode Island School of Design and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts. In 1957, Kramer began teaching painting and drawing at Boston University School of Arts. Kramer published a book on the teaching of artistic anatomy in 1972 titled Human Anatomy and Figure Drawing, which is still used as a text book at many art schools. In addition to his teaching career, Kramer exhibited his artwork throughout the United States and abroad. His work is in the permanent collections of the William Gurlitt Museum in Linz, Austria and the Addison Gallery in Andover Massachusetts. In 1981, Kramer was awarded the T.B. Clarke Prize for Painting at the National Academy of Design in New York. He was also honored by the Copley Society who exhibited a collection of Kramer’s work in 1982 and named him a Copley Master. Kramer died in 1983.
