The Egyptian

Hildegarde Haas

A drawing in ink by Hildegarde Haas. "The Egyptian" was done in 1946, when the artist was 20 years old and was still living and studying in New York. During this period she also worked as a printmaker, creating abstracted color woodcuts. She moved to California in 1951.

Haas had a condition called "synesthesia" which allowed her to visualize music she heard and she would work while listening to music. Her artworks, which lean toward rhythmic and calligraphic abstraction, were included in the exhibition "Young American Printmakers" at the Museum of Modern Art, New York in 1953. She exhibited nationally at juried exhibitions and her work frequently drew comments by critics highlighting these shows.