Strange that Karl Drerup's art has gone largely unnoticed for the past several decades: The richly colored paintings blending geometric patterns and whimsical flourishes are not the type of pieces you walk by without a second glance. But the German painter and enamelist was never one to court fame, and his work - though stunning - has been plowed over by larger trends in the art world.

"For a while, his was kind of the hot work to buy," said Catherine Amidon, director of the Karl Drerup Art Gallery at Plymouth State University. "Then enamel fell out of fashion and he became less well-known . . . the very quiet life he chose to live here in New Hampshire made it hard to become a national superstar."

But seven years after Drerup's death, a revival may be on the horizon. Working with Drerup's son, Oliver, Sarah Chaffee of McGowan Fine Art has brought together an unprecedented number of Drerup pieces for a show at her gallery. The show, on display through the end of the month, is running concurrently with an exhibit at the Drerup gallery at Plymouth State - and the art world is taking notice.

"It's been quite amazing," said Chaffee, whose show highlights Drerup's drawings and paintings as well as his enamels. "The wider audience is finding the show. We're getting calls from all over the country."

If Drerup's artistry does make its way into homes

around the country, it won't be the first time. Born in Germany in 1904, Drerup studied briefly in a European monastery, until the monks caught him drawing their caricatures in the margins of his notebooks. He went on to art school, traveling extensively and studying under some of the foremost artists of the day. While in Florence, he met and married Gertrude Lifmann, a Jew. As Italy fell to fascism, the couple fled first to the Canary Islands, then to the United States.

In New York, Drerup was at first lost in a sea of uprooted European artists, Amidon said. Then he found a niche making ceramic tiles, bowls and lamps and selling them at Fifth Avenue shops. He made a deal with managers of a toilet bowl factory, who let them fire his vessels between their toilets at night. "We have a whole collection we call his toilet bowl series," Amidon said.

At the same time, Drerup began working with painted enamels on metal. His vivid pieces won national awards and gained renown almost immediately, and his enameled lipstick cases, cigarette holders and compacts became all the rage among the cultured class.

"They're masterful," said Ken Browne, a New Jersey filmmaker who features Drerup in his new documentary A League of Our Own: New Hampshire and the American Craft Movement. "He had a remarkable technique."

While studying the history of arts and crafts in New Hampshire, Browne became convinced that Drerup - who moved to Thornton in 1945 after meeting league representatives in New York - was a New Hampshire treasure. "He was just a remarkable artist, and I really believe the day will come when his work will take its place among the greats," Browne said.

Not that he lacks for admirers now. The art gallery at Plymouth State University, where Drerup taught for many years, bears his name, and the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen lauds him as one of its patriarchs. "His contribution to art education in the state of New Hampshire is just immeasurable," Amidon said.

But there's reason to believe his fan club is beginning to grow. There's been a surge of interest in mid-century arts and crafts of late, Chaffee said, and Drerup's family is finally releasing some of his valuable pieces. Drerup pieces on eBay are already fetching a pretty sum, and his work is being featured at the Long Beach Museum in California in an exhibit celebrating American enamelists.

Fittingly, Drerup's enamels themselves have stood the test of time. Because enameling requires layer upon layer of artistry, it doesn't fade and crackle the way other methods do. "It's an ageless technique," said Browne. "It has this amazing resilience. His work is going to be here for centuries and centuries."

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BY SARAH M. EARLE

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