Above: "April," and artwork by Virginia Kaar (1910-1966), created while she was in the WPA, ca. 1935-1943. Image courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Above: A closer view of the side section of Virginia Kaar's "April."
The Life of Virginia Kaar?
There doesn't seem to be much information on the Internet, or in newspaper archives, about the life of Virginia Kaar. We know that she continued creating art after her time in the WPA. For example, a 1949 newspaper article describes one of Kaar's paintings at an exhibit: "Still another remarkable example of how an imperious imagination can justify its vision and make it widely comprehensible is Virginia Kaar's 'Christmas.' The Christ Child and Mary and Joseph are presented in geometrical figures - yet the effect is neither irreverent nor eccentric. The picture has glow and great charm" ("Artists Show Skill in Their Interpretation," Chicago Tribune, October 6, 1949, p. 58).
Kaar died young, at about 56 years old. The Chicago Tribune printed a brief obituary: "Virginia Kaar, beloved sister of George W. and Sharon Davis. Resting at Beukema Funeral Home, 10456 S. Western avenue, where services will be held Monday at 11 a.m. Please omit flowers. Visitation after 7 p.m. Saturday" ("Kaar," Chicago Tribune, July 30, 1966, p. 12).
What were Ms. Kaar's hopes, dreams, and goals? How much art did she create, and where does it all reside now? Perhaps we'll never know.
Virginia Kaar was a very very dear friend of my grandmother's in Chicago. They met before my grandmother married. My grandmother was a classical pianist, and moved into a tenement apartment near what is now the magnificent mile, and found herself among many writers, artists and musicians. Virginia had a lover, Adrian Troy a print artist who is more well known. It is possible they were married, or they pretended to be when he was going for naturalization, as she is listed as his wife on that document. Either way, he broke her heart, and disappeared, leaving Virginia heartbroken and destitute. At the time of her death, she was a catalogue artist for several department stores. When she died, my grandmother and my father cleaned her place, and they found dozens of pieces by both Virginia and Adrian. My grandmother neglected them, my father about the same. His widow and I are trying to make sure to get the work to the right institutions. I wish I had known her. I was three when she died.
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