Paul Meltsner
Paul Meltsner | |
---|---|
Born | Paul Raphael Meltsner 1905 New York, NY |
Died | 1966 Woodstock, NY |
Nationality | American |
Known for | Painting |
Movement | Social Realism |
Paul Raphael Meltsner (1905–1966) was an American artist who was widely recognized for his Works Progress Administration (WPA) era paintings and lithographs, and who was later known for his iconic portraits of celebrities in the performing arts.[1]
Education and training
Paul Meltsner sold his first painting when he was eight years old to the government of Palestine for $25.[2] He was born in New York City and attended public schools in Harlem before graduating Flushing High School in 1922. Meltsner later studied at the National Academy of Design and did illustration work for Coronet and Bachelor magazines.[3]
WPA era work
In the 1930s, Meltsner participated in the
Meltsner's 1937 mural, Ohio, in the Bellevue, Ohio post office, depicted a heroic scene of laboring Ohio farmers and factory workers and remains an exemplary specimen of the mural work that was awarded by the Department of the Treasury's Section of Painting and Sculpture.[5][6]
In 1937, Meltsner painted a self-portrait titled Paul, Marcella and Van Gogh. In the work, he poses in his studio with his daughter and his
In 1935, printmaking became a separate WPA unit formed for the purpose of employing artists and stimulating public interest in print collecting. The New York print shop would be the most prolific of the 16 established across the country.
Portraits of performing artists
Later in his career, Meltsner turned his artistic interests to portraits of celebrities in the performing arts.[11] His portrait of Carmen Miranda, complete with a banana hat, helped to popularize Miranda's image and was acquired by the Brazilian Government for the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro as "representing the typical Latin American woman."[12] Meltsner would become widely recognized for his depictions of performers in the dramatic arts also including Gypsy Rose Lee, Dorothy Stickney, Gertrude Lawrence, Lynn Fontaine, John Barrymore, Marian Anderson, and was perhaps most recognized for his multiple paintings of Martha Graham.[13] One of Meltsner's Graham portraits is housed in the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.,[14] another in the Wichita Art Museum in Wichita, Kansas, and another hangs in the National Museum of Argentina in Buenos Aires.[15]
In 1944, Meltsner auctioned 8 portraits at the I. Magnin in Beverly Hills with the proceeds to benefit the Fifth War Loan Drive. The pictures of Albert Einstein, Gertrude Lawrence, Vera Zorina, Carmen Amaya, Lynn Fontanne, John Barrymore, Carmen Miranda and Marian Anderson brought in a combined total of $2,715,000.[16]
Late career and recognition
Collectors of Meltsner paintings during his lifetime included Frank Crowninshield, Oscar Serlin, Billy Rose, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt who hung his work in the White House.[17]
Meltsner was a member of The Mural Painters, the Society of Independent Artists, and was a fellow at The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation.[18]
Later in life, he left his downtown New York studio and settled in Woodstock, New York. There he joined an artist colony that included many of his contemporaries. He lived a simple life painting in a barn studio and did not own a phone or car.[19] Meltsner died in Woodstock in 1966.[20]
Meltsner paintings and lithographs are today held in the collections of the
External links
Select images of Meltsner works in museum collections
- Paul, Marcella and Van Gogh (No. 2), 1940, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
- Ohio (study for mural), 1937, Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Ohio, 1937, New Deal Art Registry
- Martha Graham, circa 1940, National Portrait Gallery
- Martha Graham Dance Class, 1939, Wichita Art Museum
- Nightclub Scene, 1935, Weisman Art Museum
- Industrial Landscape, 1935, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
- Lithographs (various), Brooklyn Museum
- Lithographs (various), Dallas Museum of Art
References
- ^ Jacobsen, Anita. Jacobsen's Biographical Index of American Artists. A.J. Publications, 2002.
- ^ Gilbert,George. Art and Photography. "America's Happiest Artist", April 1957.
- ^ Southgate, Therese. JAMA, Vol 275, No. 17. "The Cover", May 1, 1996, p. 1.
- ^ Southgate, Therese. JAMA, Vol 275, No. 17. "The Cover", May 1, 1996, p. 1.
- ^ Raynor, Patricia. EnRoute Volume 6, Issue 4. "Off The Wall: New Deal Post Office Murals. October–December 1997.
- ^ The Art News. "Mural by Meltsner; Mary Huthinson". December 4, 1937, p. 12.
- ^ Southgate, Therese. JAMA, Vol 275, No. 17. "The Cover", May 1, 1996, p. 1.
- ^ Prints From the Great Depression (exhibit guide). The Dayton Art Institute, May 22 – September 26, 2010, p. 1.
- ^ Southgate, Therese. JAMA, Vol 275, No. 17. "The Cover", May 1, 1996, p. 1.
- ^ Art Digest. "Meltsner, Machine Age Commentator, Shows". December 1, 1936.
- ^ Art Digest Volume 14. "Paul Meltsner Turns His Eyes to Broadway". March 1, 1940, p. 7.
- ^ Arts (magazine) Volume 22. Arts Digest Inc.,1947, p. 17.
- ^ Art Digest Volume 14. "Paul Meltsner Turns His Eyes to Broadway". March 1, 1940, p. 7.
- ^ "A Brush with History - Portraits". Archived from the original on December 13, 2011. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
- ^ Art Digest Volume 15. "Gift to Argentina". December 1, 1940, p. 20.
- ^ Art Digest Volume 18. "War Bonds for Famous Faces". August 1944, p. 8.
- ^ Art Digest Volume 15. "Gift to Argentina". December 1, 1940, p. 20.
- ^ Jocobsen, Anita. Jacobsen's Biographical Index of American Artists. A.J. Publications, 2002.
- ^ Gilbert,George. Art and Photography. "America's Happiest Artist", April 1957.
- ^ Southgate, Therese. JAMA, Vol 275, No. 17. "The Cover", May 1, 1996, p. 1.
- ^ Jocobsen, Anita. Jacobsen's Biographical Index of American Artists. A.J. Publications, 2002.