You'll discover this art piece in Klassen Court
on the university campus
John Peter Klassen, long-time Bluffton College art professor, was born in Kronsgarten, Ukraine in 1888. He and his wife, Anna, arrived in Canada in 1923, and eventually arriving in Bluffton the following year, escaping the aftermath of the Russian Revolution.
He was a member of the college art faculty from 1924 to 1958. His works combine religious themes with first-hand observations of the Russian Revolution, where he saw suffering, hardship and death.
Countless Klassen works are in the collections of friends, former students and artists throughout North American. He died at age 87 in 1975.
The Klassen piece featured here is a Russian Cossack, completed in 1939. The bronze sculpture is perhaps the artist's most technically complete work. Viewers will find it in Klassen Court, named after the artist. The Court has several Klassen pieces and is located between Founders Hall and Marbeck Center.
