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Anna Elkan Meltzer
“The Big City, 1948” Grand Central Station NYC Manhattan Female WPA Modernist

1948

$12,000
£9,065.56
€10,396.23
CA$16,743.71
A$18,222.30
CHF 9,659.62
MX$219,228.19
NOK 122,515.06
SEK 112,092.70
DKK 77,667.70

About the Item

“The Big City, 1948” by Anna Elkan Meltzer (American, 1896-1974) One of Meltzer’s finest works, this painting encapsulates the organized chaos of Grand Central Terminal in NYC in the 1940s. Meltzer captures a young woman in a large hat looking confused about where to go, while a host of characters race around in the background. Among those depicted on the ground floor include nuns with children, country folk, city commuters, couples, and a woman walking her dog - all with their own unique stories and backgrounds. The painting is wonderfully textured as a result of Meltzer’s painstaking, feathery brushwork. This work was exhibited at French and Company in NYC and was subsequently illustrated in a review of the show in the November 1948 issue of Design magazine. The work is oil on canvas and is signed and dated in the lower middle. It is housed in a beautiful partial gilt frame by Bernard Badura (1896-1986). Size: 30 inches tall by 25 inches wide (painting) 33 3/8 inches tall by 28 3/8 inches wide by 2 1/2 inches deep (frame) Exhibited: New York, French Company, Anna E. Meltzer Recent Paintings, November 1948 Literature: Design Magazine, Volume 50 No. 2, November 1948 (illustrated pg. 9) Provenance: French Company, NY; Private collection, NY; Acquired from the above About the artist: Anna Meltzer was born on the Lower East Side of New York City to Russian immigrant parents, Rudolph (Joseph) and Sarah Elkan. Meltzer's mother directed her to academics and music, but a high school teacher encouraged Meltzer's art work. Meltzer wrote, "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 favorable and an exception was made. I was admitted and within three months I was appointed pupil-teacher in drawing from cast class." Meltzer was unable to afford oil paints until she married her childhood sweetheart, Sam Meltzer, photographer and teacher. Meltzer studied at the Art Student League for a time and won a number of awards, including First Prize from the Audubon Artists group in 1942. Her first one-person show was at the Vendome Gallery in New York in 1940. She had numerous other one-person shows through 1967. Meltzer founded the Anna E. Meltzer School of Art in 1940, and in 1959 her students founded the Anna E. Meltzer Art Society. She also taught art at the Extension Division of CCNY from 1951-1960. Meltzer's paintings were praised by some of the leading art critics. Helen Boswell of Art Digest wrote in 1944, "Anna Meltzer… 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… 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." Emily Genauer, critic for 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." Meltzer's later work shifted from realism to more abstract styles - first "spectralism" then "prismatism". Her work can be found in the collections of many museums, including the Brooklyn Museum, Georgia Museum of Fine Arts, and Phoenix Museum of Fine Arts. Condition: Very good overall condition. Recently professionally cleaned and strip lined (to reinforce tacking edge). Minor scattered inpaint. Vintage Badura frame with typical wear from handling. It is ready to be displayed and enjoyed!
  • Creator:
    Anna Elkan Meltzer (1896 - 1975)
  • Creation Year:
    1948
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 33.38 in (84.79 cm)Width: 28.38 in (72.09 cm)Depth: 2.5 in (6.35 cm)
  • Medium:
    Oil,Canvas
  • Movement Style:
    American Modern
  • Period:
    1940-1949
  • Condition:
    Very good overall condition. Recently professionally cleaned and strip lined (to reinforce tacking edge). Minor scattered inpaint. Vintage Badura frame with typical wear from handling. It is ready to be displayed and enjoyed!
  • Gallery Location:
    Yardley, PA
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU2911217326832

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