Born in Germany, Horst fled with the uprising of the Nazis and eventually came to the United States in 1941. Once in the United States, Trave was drafted and sent back to Germany where he was one of the first soldiers to enter Berlin at the end of the war. Upon returning to the United States Trave enrolled at the California School of Fine Arts 1947 where he studied under Clyfford Still. Horst Trave then studied at California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, receiving his Master of Fine Arts in 1951.

 While a student at CCAC, Horst Trave was one of the twelve founding members of the MetArt Gallery, the first bohemian art gallery. MetArt gave each artist complete control of the gallery for the duration of their exhibition in an attempt to avoid commercial restriction and prevent the dilution of a body of art. MetArt was the location of Clyfford Stills last exhibition in San Francisco in the summer of 1950.

 Horst Trave’s abstract paintings are ethereal and minimal, often recalling a mystic sensation similar to Mark Rothko. Trave clearly knows how to use abstraction and color.

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