Anot her Fr iezeke? Well… All Ely knows of the painting Breakfast in the Garden by Fredrick Carl Friezeke. The fairytale story of how Donald Gardner donated it to the city library, the discovery of its importance, and the sale of it for a half a million delights and astounds us. Well, we have another story of another painting.
Last spring, Joe Valenčič of Cleveland contacted Jim Lah. They are working on the Centenary of the Slovenian Union of America, to be held in Northern Minnesota in the summer of 2026. Valenčič inquired if Lah knew of an art work rumored to be hanging in the library in Ely. Valenčič is working on a retrospective of the works of one Harvey Gregory Prusheck. His research indicated that the city of Ely had purchased a Prusheck painting.
Lah went to work. He contacted Rachel Heinrich who has a complete list of the artworks in the library, but the artist Prusheck did not appear. Heinrich didn’t know if the city hall had any artworks not on her list. Remember that the old Community Center closed and sat dormant. The city held auctions and cleaned out the building. Lah turned the information over to the historical society wondering if they would do some research. The matter ended there.
Now that bring us to Oct. 3. Valenčič was in Ely for An Evening of Slovenian Cinema. By happenstance, the State Theater’s popcorn machine blackens a batch of popcorn just before the first show started. According to law and Lah, everyone had to evacuate the building. The inconvenience did not bother the crowd because it was a lovely evening, and people had their drinks and potica.
Out on the sidewalk, the second chance happening took place. Valenčič started a conversation with Celia Domich.
Valenčič said, “I knew Prusheck exhibited in Ely in the 1930s and a painting was purchased to hang in the then-new Public Library.”
Domich, who gives tours of Ely City Hall, recalled that council member Angela Campbell had found a dusty painting in the old library’s basement and brought it to City Hall.
“There’s a signature on it,” recalled Domich. “I think it starts with P.”
“Is it Prusheck?” Valenčič asked.
“I think it is!” she exclaimed.
The next morning they met at City Hall, and sure enough, the once-forgotten Prusheck was displayed in a back room of the city council chamber. It’s a fine work that was almost gone forever. Valenčič immediately took a photo and sent it to Robert Simonišek in Ljubljana. His immediate response: “Uff!” That’s Slovenian for “Wow!”
Harvey Gregory Prusheck was one of the first Slovenian- born artists to receive recognition as a painter in the U.S. Prusheck’s distinctive style first evolved from observing nature. He gradually established his own approach based on symbolism, expressionism and cubism.
Between 1916 and 1940 he painted around 800 works, mainly in oil and watercolor, and printed many woodcuts, such as those in the collection of the Slovenian Union of America. He depicted mostly landscapes, still lives, and urban scenes and received several awards.
Born Gregor Perušek in Jelovec, near Sodražica, in 1887, he arrived in the U.S. in 1906 to join his sister in Cleveland. He was largely self-taught and traveled the country, especially the Southwest. He then joined an artist colony in Chicago. Prusheck returned to Cleveland around 1930 and founded the Yugoslav School of Art, teaching creative young Slovenians. He died in 1940.
The modernist is the subject of a retrospective exhibition opening in June, 2026, at the Museum of Modern Art in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Valenčič is a guest curator of the show, in tandem with Robert Simonišek of the museum. The museum is looking for Prusheck paintings to include in the exhibition. Simonišek and Valenčič recently tracked artworks in Ohio, Chicago and Pennsylvania for consideration. Prusheck paintings can be found in museums from Albuquerque to Boise to Cleveland.
Maybe Ely will lend this new discovery to the retrospective. What we know now is another wonderful story about a work of art and the town of Ely, Minnesota.
