The Edith Huset Talle Collection is comprised of twenty-two small drawings and watercolors by Frans Wildenhain. Commonly referred to as the "Travel Sketches," the works encompass a period of approximately ten years, beginning in Germany around 1924 when Wildenhain was a student at the Bauhaus, and continuing through his wandering years as a knapsack traveler in Europe. The works in the collection depict scenes and figures from his travels. Also included is a self-portrait drawing, the only one known to Frans’ third wife and widow, Lili.

The collection was given to Luther College in 1981 by Marjorie Talle Merriman, Helen Talle Girardi and Mary Jane Talle Reyneke, in memory of their mother, Edith Huset Talle. Works were selected from sketchbooks that Lili Wildenhain showed to Marjorie at the Wildenhain home in Rochester, New York, after Frans had died.

Information on Marjorie Talle Merriman
Marjorie Talle Merriman grew up in Decorah and attended Luther College for a year before transferring to the College of William & Mary. She later received a MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and for several years has worked as a professional painter and printmaker in Towson, Maryland. Her husband, Jack, is a retired lawyer who graduated from Luther College in 1947 and later served on the Board of Regents.