The Wandering Soul of American Abstraction Louis Schanker was an artist whose life was as much a tapestry of movement and grit as the layered compositions he left behind. Born in 1903 amidst the vibrant, Orthodox Jewish community of the Bronx, New York, his early years were shaped by the rich traditions of his Romanian immigrant parents, Sam and Fannie. While his upbringing provided a foundation of intellectual curiosity and craftsmanship, Schanker possessed a restless spirit that could not be contained by the city limits. In 1920, he embarked on a nomadic odyssey across the United States, a…