By MARGE WEBB
REPRINTED FROM CARAVAN MAGAZINE
A GROUP of younger contemporary American "moderns" have been spending
much of their time to serve the art lovers of the smaller "art conscious"
metropoles throughout the country.
The daring efforts of some of these younger artists will be responsible
for bringing order out of much of the present chaos in the Fine Arts world
of to day. Thus the work of Anna E. Meltzer reflects the present art spirit
by the distinction of her work of down-to-earth subject matter that she
so humorously presents to the onlooker.
It is the desire of Anna E. Meltzer to help create a better understanding
between the artist and the vast art-loving public. This has been made possible
through a series such as the traveling exhibitions of her paintings and
drawings currently being shown at the Plainfield Art Association Art Gallery
of Plainfield, New Jersey. This exhibition closes on April 15th, 1945. It
is the individuality of expression in the interesting character studies
of unusual types seen in and around New York that makes this exhibition
so unique.
A keen observer of contemporary American life, her technique and point of
view is somewhat akin to the English satirist, Hogarth. After early training
at the Art Students League with Alexander Brook and others, she won a number
of honors and awards, the most recent in 1942, for her "Gallery Visitors,"
which was awarded the First Prize (Bronze Medal) by the Audubon Artists
group. She sees with honesty the facts of American city life, tinged with
realistic fidelity and bitter irony where her subject matter demands it.
We must take the word of some of America's outstanding critics to properly
evaluate this artist's contribution: thus, Helen Boswell, former art critic
for many years of the "Art Digest," wrote: "Having encountered
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 banker,
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-glamorized, 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 emotional 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 O. 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,. Iower 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."
Ever since Miss Meltzer's first "one man" show at the Vendome
Gallery in 1940, the most caustic art critics have written encouragingly
of her work. This is what the director of the Vendome Gallery, Joseph Buzzeli,
wrote in the foreword of her first catalog: "An artist is great when
he or she can withstand the barrages of influences that exist in the field
of art. Anna E. Meltzer accomplishes this peak to an infinite degree."
And it was of this same exhibition that Emily Genauer, noted art critic
of the New York World Telegram, wrote: "Her work is full of a robust,
healthy flavor . . . extremely well drawn and modeled. Her color has a certain
vibrant strength. She uses it with richly expressive effect."
We naturally compare the more humorous of Anna E. Meltzer's character studies
to the work of William Hogarth ( 1697-1764) because of his satirical portrayals
of the aristocracy of his day although he preferred to show almost every
type of person of corruption from the mansion to the slum in the chaotic
London of his time. Just as his vivid prints remain a true portrait of the
London of his day, with its humor, and pathos - and with no pulled punches,
so to say - so will the work of Anna E. Meltzer live in the museums, the
private collections to record the present-day fast moving life, and excitements
of the types of Manhattan (however unlovely) as the characterizations may
seem, preserved exquisitely in the sensitive, yet vibrant color palette
of this present day artist reporter of life.
Thus in time of war and strain like the present, when society's lid is raised
and its seething violence meets the eye, in a new interest, it is natural
to those who compare her work with that of Hogarth (the father of caricature)
to enjoy and profit by her fearless interpretations. Her keen eye for character,
drama, and worldly motives, plus her enormous interest in the life around
her, will make her work continually sought after by art collectors. Her
work will continue to receive enormous popularity, and as in all good work
rise in value and prestige.
This fine collection of fifteen uniformly framed Character Studies in oils,
25x30 and seventeen framed drawings, have also been shown during the present
art season at the Rockford Art Association, Rockford, Illinois - the Massillon
Museum, Massillon, Ohio - the Peabody Art Gallery, University of Florida,
Gainesville, Florida, Cayuga Art Museum - The Bloomington Art Association,
Bloomington, Illinois, and many other places.
Anna E. Meltzer paints in her sunlit studio at 58 West 57th Street, New
York
PERTINENT FACTS: By the Artist
As long as I can remember, life has seemed good when I have been able
to draw. I can recall as a
very little child always using the pencil. The years from ages six to eight
stand out as a period of prolific work. At eight came heartbreak. I entered
school armed with stacks of drawings and presented these, my life's work,
to my teacher expecting my joys of creation to be shared by her. She spent
very little time in looking at them and said it was very nice for a little
girl. I might have been content with that meager compliment had I not seen
all my precious work in the waste-basket the following morning.
My school years were spent oblivious to surroundings and teachings. I lived
in a world all my own. The physical location was under the desk top. There
I drew many pictures of teachers as I saw them, and as I would have liked
to see them look. Woe was me. When my name was called and I was shocked
into this real world and beheld before me a glaring ruler with her arms
folded over her mountainous body.
My mother's plans differed from mine. According to hers, I was to have a
thorough academic and musical education. Music was a welcome study, though
it was my second love. After graduation from grammar school, I went to High
School quite reluctantly, and when my art teacher gave me definite advice,
I lost no time trying to enroll in the Cooper Union Art School. Miss Reynolds,
the principal, informed me that I was under age for admission requirements.
With some persuasion she promised to show my drawings to the dean. He passed
on them favorably and an exception was made. I was admitted and within three
months I was appointed pupil-teacher in drawing from cast class.
While art was permanent in my life, I had been spending more time at music.
Many hours a day was devoted to teaching, a career I started at the age
of twelve. Although I had been earning money, I still could not afford the
luxury of owning oil paints. That came later when I married. My husband,
who was my childhood sweetheart, presented me with the necessary materials
and also became my one and only tired-after-dinner-model. This inspired
new hopes and opened new vistas. After having worked for so many years with
black and white medium, color made me tingle.
Then came my children. One was always parked at the base of my easel, while
the other tugged at my smock clamoring for eats, always at such moments
when I thought I had discovered color nuances, etc. Inspiration arrested,
brushes laid down, pots and pans became the interest of the moment.
After a few years of painting and mothering, I was commissioned to do portraits.
This experience taught me that instead of painting naive truths, operations
had to be performed, noses shortened and hips sliced (on the paintings).
Being robbed of freedom of expression and the pleasure of mimicry, I discarded
this field. From that time until now, I have painted without restriction.
Out of all these years of work have evolved my present technique, expressions
and dreams for the future.