Strauser, whose German name is translated “one who binds the flowers,” was born in Bloomsburg, PA on August 15, 1907. His interest in art was kindled as a child by a gift of crayons from an aunt. Years later, Der Blaue Reiter artist, David Burliuk, said of Strauser, “It is amazing to find a self-taught artist in a quaint little provincial village painting like the masters in the great art centers of the world.” Sterling Strauser sent three small paintings to the ‘Salons of America’ show in Rockefeller Center, in 1934. Two of the works he admitted were selected. Strauser then contacted Marguerite Zimbalist about viewing his pieces for her gallery. Upon seeing his work, she agreed to give Strauser his own solo exhibition. This humble beginning started a series of events that would move Sterling Strauser’s unique work into prominence. He created art throughout his entire life that transcended all boundaries. An art critic for Art News once referred to Strauser as the “spiritual descendant of Paul Klee.” His eye for color combined with his opulent strokes made him a major impressionist artist who contended “a painting has a personality all its own.” The subject matter of his large collection of works covered practically the entire spectrum. From unique floral still-lifes to dramatic social commentaries, Sterling Strauser’s work has been labeled by one collector as “romantic American expressionism.” His works went on to be in the permanent collections of the American Museum in Bath, Eng; the Everhart Museum in Scranton, PA; the Cheekwood Museum in Nashville, TN; Lehigh University Museum in Bethlehem, PA; Vanderbilt University; and a number of corporate collections. The most recent exhibitions of his work, “A Modernist Revisited,” was held at the Reading Public Museum in Pennsylvania – 99-00, and “Sterling Strauser and Friends,” was held at Belmont Univ. in Tennessee – 2001. Strauser was a great American artist with no foreign influence.