Having encoulntered the work of Anna E. Meltzer in various group shows, I knew that here was a special talent that stood head and shoulders above others. One spotted a Meltzer and remembered it, whether it was an easy study of the gallery itself with visitors strolling and gazing, or whether it was a rather plaintive study of a white-haired woman who somehow held the critic's searching eye. I was away on a Sabbatical when Mrs. Meltzer held her first one-man show at the Vendome Galleries, so I wasn't prepared for the splendid surprise that awaited me on a trip to the artist's studio.
Here was encountered real talent and real purpose. A sincere and highly accomplished artist recording in a steady, realistic and heartfelt manner the things both she and the public like - people. These are not glorified conceptions of the people who so often get painted, the prosperous broker, the satined debutante or the alert young man in smart yachting clothes. These are human documents of the people we have all met, a Bronx housewife, completely un-glamourized, staring out of the window at a sparse view; a gay young blade with hat on the back of his head wistfully tooting a flute, and one of our "born and bred in Brooklyn" working girls, gowned by the best 14th Street Stores, caught just exactly as all of us have seen her almost every day of our lives.
There is this about Anna Meltzer. She goes below the surface in her characterizations and gives an inner vision which lifts any artist up to higher spiritual levels. Not too often encountered, this is a special gift. Coupled with it is a certain unforced and unhurried quality, as though Mrs. Meltzer had done a lot of quiet thinking in a gentle, philosophical way. Not tangled up with threads of high emoltional voltage and the haste to record fleeting, discordant impressions on canvas, the artist paints a good picture seeped in the best traditions of good painting. An amazing draughtsman with a strong touch and good solid color, Mrs. Meltzer has started on what looks like an unusual and highly artistic career of fine figure painting.
These New York characters have a 20th century 0. Henry touch. Bagdad on the Subway as seen through the eyes of a painter who is a poet at heart painting contemporary types. There is the organ grinder with humble, earnest mien; eager adolescent boys and girls, lower Manhattan mendicants, even a striking idiot girl with wild eyes and a mane of auburn hair. From a study of Peternella, violin maker of 57th Street, closeted among his collection of tools and fiddles, the artist turns to a well-organized portrayal of the Mayan Indian Princess Wahletka, psychic and mind-reader who has designed and built her own throne and crystal ball stand.
One of the favorite pictures is the amusing composition of a Delancey Street Bank, particularly appealing with its rear view of a. pretzel woman depositing her earnings. Surroundings are important to Anna Meltzer. She paints types but puts them in their proper place, so that there is no question as to who they are or what they are doing. This is literality combined with executive skill and crushed glowing color. The field she has selected is a large field. The world is full of humans. With her unerring skill, a special undisguised talent and deep spiritual grace, Mrs. Meltzer has all of life before her. The hand of the critic clasps the hand of the painter.

Helen Boswell, Art Crfitic, Art Digest