Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 11

Malcah Zeldis
Malcah Zeldis Folk Art Gouache Painting Outsider Circus Trapeze Artist Acrobats

1982

About the Item

MALCAH ZELDIS Circus, Trapeze Artists and Acrobats gouache on paper Hand signed and dated bottom right. titled in pencil on paper verso. Framed to 15 X 16.5 sheet is 9 X 12 Malcah Zeldis (born Mildred Brightman; 1931) is an American folk art painter. She is known for work that draws from a mix of biblical, historical, and autobiographical themes. She is one of the leading self-taught contemporary artists, best known for her paintings depicting urban life, historical and religious events, her heroes, and her own life. Her paintings have been widely exhibited. Her work is in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and was used for the invitation and posters for the traveling exhibition: American Art on the Move which toured museums during 2001. She is categorized as an Outsider artist or a folk Artist. Of special note is the one-person show presented by the Museum of American Folk Art at New York University in 1988. It was the first time the museum had presented a one-person exhibition of the work of a living folk artist. Malcah Zeldis was born in the Bronx, New York, and raised in a Jewish ghetto in Detroit, Michigan. Her father faced work discrimination for his religion and the family was poor, but eventually moved to a middle-class neighborhood. However, Zeldis looks back on her years in Detroit fondly, stating that what she remembers best is the nature. She also remembers weekend visits to the Detroit Institute of Arts where she recalls being taken by brightly colored Flemish paintings full of small figures. These paintings would later inspire her colorful works with many small figures. As a non-devout Jew, Zeldis felt disconnected from her people and wanted to explore her heritage. She moved to Israel in 1949 at the age of eighteen, becoming a Zionist and working on a kibbutz. It was here that Zeldis met her future husband, Hiram Zeldis. The two went back to the US to marry, and then returned to the kibbutz. Zeldis began painting, yet as a self taught artist had little confidence in the quality of her work. However, Aaron Giladi, a well known Israeli artist visited the kibbutz and praised Zeldis’s oil paintings. His suggestion to paint larger intimidated Zeldis. After trying and failing to use larger canvases she stopped painting for a period of time, which was extended by childbirth and a permanent move to Brooklyn, New York. Zeldis finally resumed painting twenty-three years later, as her children grew older and her marriage ended. She enrolled in Brooklyn College as an Early Childhood Studies major in 1970. The college had a "life experience" policy, which prompted Zeldis to submit her paintings despite continued apprehension over whether they were good enough. Much to her surprise, Zeldis's paintings were well received and her teacher introduced her work to an art critic, who further suggested showing her work to dealers. This period was a turning point for Zeldis, as she realized that her lack of training was not a barrier to the art world. It was around this time that she observed Haitian folk art in a gallery. She found Haitian folk art very stylistically similar to her own, and finally believed that she was an artist. Zeldis began painting seriously and had a number of gallery shows. Her work also appeared in books such as the International Dictionary of Naive Art and Moments in Jewish Life: The Folk Art of Malcah Zeldis. Zeldis later worked in children's book illustration in collaboration with her daughter, Yona Zeldis. Her naive, whimsical images contain a number of storytelling devices and attempt to convey a narrative. She has worked in oils, acrylic and watercolor paintings. She is also fond of biblical themes. Israel, and the larger Jewish world, have had a Vibrant Folk Art, Naive art scene for a long time now, artists like Yisrael Paldi, Nahum Guttman, Reuven Rubin and even Yefim Ladyzhensky had naive periods. The most well know of the strict naive artists are Shalom of Safed, Irene Awret, Gabriel Cohen, Natan Heber, Michael Falk and Kopel Gurwin. Her work depicts a circus act (reminiscent of Alexander Calder) with fire eater, clowns, juggler, tiger and elephant acts. Zeldis and her daughter have written and illustrated Eve and Her Sisters: Women of the Old Testament, God Sent a Rainbow and Other Bible Stories, Anne Frank, Sisters in Strength: American Women Who Made a Difference, and Hammerin' Hank. Malcah Zeldis has also illustrated Honest Abe (President Abraham Lincoln) and African American civil rights icon Martin Luther King. She earned her Bachelor’s degree at Brooklyn College, New York in 1970. She has exhibited her works at American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland; Wright Museum of African American History, Detroit, Michigan; The Bass Museum of Fine Art, Miami Beach, FL, Frederick Weisman Art Museum, MI; Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN; Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, AL; Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York; Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, FL; Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, NY; Terra Museum of Art, Chicago, IL; Stedman Art Gallery, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ; Creative Heart Gallery, Winston-Salem, NC; Modern Primitive Gallery, Atlanta, GA; New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA; Jay Johnson Gallery, New York, NY; and the Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL. Her work is in the permanent collections of museums such as Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Museum, Williamsburg, VA; Akron Museum, Akron, OH; International Folk Art Museum, Santa Fe, NM; Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Museum, Rutgers Collection of Children’s Literature, New Brunswick, NJ; Jewish Museum, New York, NY; John Judson Memorial American Museum, Washington, DC; Milwaukee Museum of Art, Milwaukee, WI; May Museum of Art, Lawrence NY; The Museum, Kresge Art Gallery, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI; Musée D'Art Naif De Lille de France, Paris, France; The American Folk Art Museum, New York, NY; Noyes Museum, Oceanville, NJ; St. Louis Mid-American Arts Alliance (Mulvane Art Center), St. Louis, MO; Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA; Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC; and the Yeshiva University Museum, New York, NY. PUBLIC COLLECTIONS Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Museum, Williamsburg, VA Akron Museum, Akron, OH International Folk Art Museum, Santa Fe, NM Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Museum, Rutgers Collection of Children’s Literature, New Brunswick, NJ Jewish Museum, New York, NY John Judson Memorial American Museum, Bath, England Klutznick National Jewish Museum, Washington, DC Milwaukee Museum of Art, Milwaukee, WI May Museum of Art, Lawrence, NY Kresge Art Center Gallery, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI Musée d’Art Naïf – Max Fourny, Paris, France The American Folk Art Museum, New York, NY New York State Historical Association, Cooperstown, NY Noyes Museum, Oceanville, NJ Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Museum, Philadelphia, PA St. Louis Mid-America Arts Alliance (Mulvane Art Center), St. Louis, MO Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC Yeshiva University Museum, New York, NY
  • Creator:
    Malcah Zeldis (1931)
  • Creation Year:
    1982
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 15 in (38.1 cm)Width: 16.5 in (41.91 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    Good. frame has light wear. Minor wear. Please see photos.
  • Gallery Location:
    Surfside, FL
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU38210790852
More From This SellerView All
  • Malcah Zeldis Folk Art Gouache Painting Outsider Circus Trapeze Horse Acrobats
    Located in Surfside, FL
    MALCAH ZELDIS Circus, Trapeze Artists, Horse rider and Acrobats gouache on paper Hand signed and dated bottom right. titled in pencil on paper verso. Fr...
    Category

    1980s Folk Art Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Paper, Gouache

  • Malcah Zeldis Folk Art Gouache Painting Outsider Circus Trapeze Horse Acrobats
    Located in Surfside, FL
    MALCAH ZELDIS Circus, Trapeze Artists, Horse rider and Acrobats gouache on paper Hand signed and dated bottom right. titled in pencil on paper verso. Fr...
    Category

    1980s Folk Art Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Paper, Gouache

  • Malcah Zeldis Folk Art Gouache Painting Sports Basketball Arena Coca Cola Sign
    Located in Surfside, FL
    MALCAH ZELDIS ''Basketball'', 1988, gouache on paper Hand signed and dated bottom right, titled in pencil on paper verso Malcah Zeldis (born Mildred ...
    Category

    1980s Folk Art Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Paper, Gouache

  • Malcah Zeldis Folk Art Gouache Painting Wine & Cigarettes Woman Outsider Artist
    Located in Surfside, FL
    MALCAH ZELDIS Reclining Woman Wine and Cigarettes gouache on paper Hand signed and dated bottom right. titled in pencil on paper verso. Matted to 13 X 1...
    Category

    1980s Folk Art Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Paper, Gouache

  • Original Graphic Hungarian Illustration Art Emma Heinzelmann Children's Book Art
    Located in Surfside, FL
    Original vintage gouache painting on poster board by Emma Heinzelmann (Hungarian, born 1930). Hungarian Peasant art, children fairytale themes, in psychedelic pop colors of the era. This framed painting depicts figures, a rooster and angels in flying above. Artist signature on farm gate. Housed in chrome mid century frame. Framed: 19.5 X 25.5 image is 15 X 21. Emma Heinzelmann ( Nyírbátor , March 14 , 1930 - ) Munkácsy Prize-winning Hungarian graphic designer and illustrator. Heinzelmann is a Hungarian children's book illustrator and graphic poster artist, who started her career during the 1950’s. She has a very unique drawing style that resembles children’s book illustrations. Working in psychedelic pop colors of the era. She Initially she studied to be a costume designer but she soon turned to graphic design. She graduated in 1950 from the clothing design department at the Junior High School in Török Pál Street which operated under the name Szépmíves Lyceum from 1946 to 1950. His master was György Farkas, a ceramicist, painter and sculptor. She creates her compositions using mainly watercolor and gouache paint. She often worked on illustrations for children’s books, since her style fits their themes. Her posters show the same playful Hungarian Folk Art style. She has produced artwork in almost all areas of applied graphics. posters, commemorative cards, designed album covers, postcards, advertising graphics, slide films, animation and cartoons. Her drawings were published in Dörmögő Dömötör and Kisdobos among others as well as in children's magazines. An entire generation of children grew up with her book illustrations, reading the fairy tales of Wilhelm Hauff or Hans Christian Andersen. Her story books and drawings are known well beyond our borders. She illustrated nearly 80 storybooks. She is a contemporary of Maurice Sendak and William Steig. Her work is of the same genre as the iconic Polish Cyrk poster artists. In her original fine art graphics grotesque and bitter elements often prevail, her figures are playfully ironic. Her drawings are made in a variety of ways, from pencil drawings to watercolor painting to collage techniques, from decorative spot effects to lace-like line drawings. She is no stranger to a kind of Art Nouveau influence, but it is always individual. It was never beautiful, but over the years its color scheme changed, thus confirming the lines of József Somogyi quoted earlier. She had several individual exhibitions, and for more than 10 years as a member of the Papp-Gábor group, her works could be seen in Dorottya Street. In 2009 , the book of art historian András Székely was published by Holnap Könyvkiadó under the title Emma Heinzelmann: fairy tales in the drawing. Awards and recognitions Lot Prize (International Poster Biennale, Warsaw) (1972) Ministry of Culture Award (1977, 1979) Brno Graphic Biennale (Bronze Award) (1980) Worker's Award (1984) Children's Book of the Year Award (1984) IBBY Andersen Diploma (1988) Hamburg Lifetime Achievement Award (1990) Albert Star Award (1992) Noémi Ferenczy Award (2005) Munkácsy Award (1984) Solo Exhibitions: Thought Bookstore, Budapest (1965) Cultural Center, Nyíregyháza (1974) Little Gallery, Komárom (1982) Art Gallery, Budapest. (1990) Vác (2010) Selected group exhibitions: International Children's Book Fair and Exhibition, Bologna (1971-1975) International Graphic Biennale, Brno (1966-1985) BIB (Children's book illustration biennial), Bratislava (1970-1985) XXXVI. Venice Biennale, Venice (1972) ARC. International Poster Biennale, Warsaw (1972) International Poster Triennale (B) (1972-1974) Weekdays, graphic exhibition, (1975) Calligraphy and typography, Institute of Cultural Relations, Budapest (1977) "Falrahányt pea", graphic exhibition, Institute of Cultural Relations, Budapest.(1978) International Poster Triennale (B) (1978) National Poster Exhibitions, Art Gallery, Budapest (1978)(1980) International Poster Exhibition (IR) (1979) Slide films: Fairy tales with Emma Heinzelmann's drawings: Under the Shore (1981) Goose Party (1981) Take a Little Trumpet (1982) The Bremen Town...
    Category

    Mid-20th Century Folk Art Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Gouache

  • Original Graphic Hungarian Illustration Art Emma Heinzelmann Children's Book Art
    Located in Surfside, FL
    Original vintage gouache painting on poster board by Emma Heinzelmann (Hungarian, born 1930). Hungarian Peasant art, children fairytale themes, in psychedelic pop colors of the era.This painting that depicts figures including a crowned pig, and a princess in a bed. Artist signature above bed. Housed in chrome mid century frame. Framed: 19.5 X 25.5 image is 14.75 X 21.25. Emma Heinzelmann ( Nyírbátor , March 14 , 1930 - ) Munkácsy Prize-winning Hungarian graphic designer and illustrator. Heinzelmann is a Hungarian children's book illustrator and graphic poster artist, who started her career during the 1950’s. She has a very unique drawing style that resembles children’s book illustrations. Working in psychedelic pop colors of the era. She Initially she studied to be a costume designer but she soon turned to graphic design. She graduated in 1950 from the clothing design department at the Junior High School in Török Pál Street which operated under the name Szépmíves Lyceum from 1946 to 1950. His master was György Farkas, a ceramicist, painter and sculptor. She creates her compositions using mainly watercolor and gouache paint. She often worked on illustrations for children’s books, since her style fits their themes. Her posters show the same playful Hungarian Folk Art style. She has produced artwork in almost all areas of applied graphics. posters, commemorative cards, designed album covers, postcards, advertising graphics, slide films, animation and cartoons. Her drawings were published in Dörmögő Dömötör and Kisdobos among others as well as in children's magazines. An entire generation of children grew up with her book illustrations, reading the fairy tales of Wilhelm Hauff or Hans Christian Andersen. Her story books and drawings are known well beyond our borders. She illustrated nearly 80 storybooks. She is a contemporary of Maurice Sendak and William Steig. Her work is of the same genre as the iconic Polish Cyrk poster artists. In her original fine art graphics grotesque and bitter elements often prevail, her figures are playfully ironic. Her drawings are made in a variety of ways, from pencil drawings to watercolor painting to collage techniques, from decorative spot effects to lace-like line drawings. She is no stranger to a kind of Art Nouveau influence, but it is always individual. It was never beautiful, but over the years its color scheme changed, thus confirming the lines of József Somogyi quoted earlier. She had several individual exhibitions, and for more than 10 years as a member of the Papp-Gábor group, her works could be seen in Dorottya Street. In 2009 , the book of art historian András Székely was published by Holnap Könyvkiadó under the title Emma Heinzelmann: fairy tales in the drawing. Awards and recognitions Lot Prize (International Poster Biennale, Warsaw) (1972) Ministry of Culture Award (1977, 1979) Brno Graphic Biennale (Bronze Award) (1980) Worker's Award (1984) Children's Book of the Year Award (1984) IBBY Andersen Diploma (1988) Hamburg Lifetime Achievement Award (1990) Albert Star Award (1992) Noémi Ferenczy Award (2005) Munkácsy Award (1984) Solo Exhibitions: Thought Bookstore, Budapest (1965) Cultural Center, Nyíregyháza (1974) Little Gallery, Komárom (1982) Art Gallery, Budapest. (1990) Vác (2010) Selected group exhibitions: International Children's Book Fair and Exhibition, Bologna (1971-1975) International Graphic Biennale, Brno (1966-1985) BIB (Children's book illustration biennial), Bratislava (1970-1985) XXXVI. Venice Biennale, Venice (1972) ARC. International Poster Biennale, Warsaw (1972) International Poster Triennale (B) (1972-1974) Weekdays, graphic exhibition, (1975) Calligraphy and typography, Institute of Cultural Relations, Budapest (1977) "Falrahányt pea", graphic exhibition, Institute of Cultural Relations, Budapest.(1978) International Poster Triennale (B) (1978) National Poster Exhibitions, Art Gallery, Budapest (1978)(1980) International Poster Exhibition (IR) (1979) Slide films: Fairy tales with Emma Heinzelmann's drawings: Under the Shore (1981) Goose Party (1981) Take a Little Trumpet (1982) The Bremen Town...
    Category

    Mid-20th Century Folk Art Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Gouache

You May Also Like
  • "The People People 5, " Paint on Paper, 2006
    Located in Chicago, IL
    In this series entitled "The People People," Tracy Crump uses washes of grey, white and aqua to both conceal and reveal sensitively drawn figures. Each figure stands alone as an indi...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Outsider Art Figurative Drawings and Water...

    Materials

    Paper, Ink, Acrylic, Watercolor

  • "The People People 6" by Tracy Crump
    Located in Chicago, IL
    In this series entitled "The People People," Tracy Crump uses washes of white, red and aqua to both conceal and reveal sensitively drawn figures. Each fig...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Outsider Art Figurative Drawings and Water...

    Materials

    Paper, Ink, Acrylic, Watercolor

  • "The People People 4, " Acrylic Paint and Watercolor on Paper, 2006
    Located in Chicago, IL
    In this series entitled "The People People," Tracy Crump uses washes of grey, white and aqua to both conceal and reveal sensitively drawn figures. Each figure stands alone as an indi...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Outsider Art Figurative Drawings and Water...

    Materials

    Paper, Ink, Acrylic, Watercolor

  • 'The People People 2, " Acrylic Paint on Canvas, 2006
    Located in Chicago, IL
    In this series entitled "The People People," Tracy Crump uses washes of grey, white and aqua to both conceal and reveal sensitively drawn figures. Each figure stands alone as an indi...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Outsider Art Figurative Drawings and Water...

    Materials

    Paper, Ink, Acrylic, Watercolor

  • Oleg (Kimono), Mixed media on ochre parchment paper
    By Howard Tangye
    Located in London, GB
    Howard Tangye (b.1948, Australia) has been an influential force in fashion for decades. Lecturing at London’s Central Saint Martins for 35 years, including 16 years as head of BA Wom...
    Category

    2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Paint, Paper, Parchment Paper, Charcoal, Crayon, Oil Crayon, Oil Pastel,...

  • Jake II (Red coat), Mixed media on Pergameneta parchment
    By Howard Tangye
    Located in London, GB
    Howard Tangye (b.1948, Australia) has been an influential force in fashion for decades. Lecturing at London’s Central Saint Martins for 35 years, including 16 years as head of BA Wom...
    Category

    2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Paint, Paper, Parchment Paper, Charcoal, Crayon, Oil Crayon, Oil Pastel,...

Recently Viewed

View All