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Grapefruit Moon Gallery

Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration

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social realist

    A large and colorful erotic and very well executed 1930s art deco-era fine art oil painting by the Lithuanian-American artist Jack Levitz. A Jewish immigrant who settled in the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, Levitz’s social realist/Ashcan school style recalls George Luks and Everett Shinn. This oil on canvas shows a seedy New York City burlesque hall, with a […]

The Burlesque Dancer

Artist: Jack Levitz

Filed Under: Fine & Decorative Art, Sorry, It's Sold
Tagged With: Ashcan School, burlesque, Jack Levitz, jewish, new york city, social realist
Added to Gallery: April 29, 2015

Working within the gritty and near-apocalyptic style of the ashcan school, Paul Raphael Meltsner captures here the shimmying decadence of movement that defined Depression-era burlesque, as well as the art form’s manner of dehumanizing both performer and patron. Though brazenly showcasing her human form, the dancer in the foreground hides her face from the canvas, and the audience recedes into the merest suggestion of faces represented merely as forms. This is a moving and masterful artwork, reminiscent of the works of Everett Shinn, a contemporary of Meltsner’s.

The Faceless Crowd

Artist: Paul Meltsner

Filed Under: Fine & Decorative Art, Sorry, It's Sold
Tagged With: 1930s, american, Ashcan School, burlesque, Federal Arts Project, fine art, Great Depression, Paul Meltsner, social realist, WPA
Added to Gallery: November 23, 2010

 

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