Art on the Move - Meltzer Print

Arthur Meltzer

Date of Birth: 07/31/1893
Place of Birth: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Date of Death: 07/03/89
Place of Death: Abington, Pennsylvania

Discipline: Painter

Painter Arthur Meltzer had early training in his hometown at the Minneapolis School of Fine Arts and as an apprentice in a stained glass studio.

After serving in World War I, he studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, one of his teachers being Daniel Garber.

Still Life with Pleading Figure

n 1921 he won the Cresson Traveling Scholarship, which enabled him to study in Europe. Meltzer is considered to be a member of the Pennsylvania School of impressionists.

Moods of the seasons and different times of day interested him in his choice of subject.

In 1925, Meltzer joined the faculty of the Moore Institute (now the Moore College of Art and Design) and in 1926 he became Head of the Fine Arts Department, teaching painting, drawing, and anatomy.

IT WAS SAID ...

"Arthur Meltzer is a consummate draftsman, a master at handling paint and color and texture, and is always able to create interesting composition."

-Drew Saunders
Western Art Digest, 1985

Here he met Paulette Van Roekens, also a Moore College teacher and painter. Their professional friendship grew into love and in 1927 they were married. Meltzer taught at the Moore Institute until 1949.

His work hangs in many important collections throughout the country, among them the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, Ohio, and the Woodmere Art Museum in Philadelphia.



			Arthur Meltzer
		BIOGRAPHY Education and Training Minneapolis School of Fine Arts, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1911-1917 Apprentice, the Ford & McNutt Stained Glass Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1911-1917 Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1919-1923 Studied abroad in England, France, Spain, Italy and Holland on a Cresson Traveling Scholarship, 1921 Teachers and Influences Robert Koehler, Joseph T. Pearson, Daniel Garber, Robert Vonnoh, Philip Hale, Arthur B. Carles, Hugh H. Breckenridge Connection to Bucks County Arthur Meltzer moved to Bucks County with his wife, fellow teacher and painter, Paulette Van Roekens.
		They lived in Langhorne and Trevose between the years 1927 and 1952, and raised two children. Meltzer exhibited widely in New Hope, Doylestown, and the surrounding area. He studied with Bucks County painter Daniel Garber and is considered a member of the New Hope School. He contributed illustrations to Bucks Cooks. Colleagues and Affiliations His wife, Paulette Van Roekens Meltzer, Daniel Garber, sculptor George, and his wife, writer Helen Papashvily, and painter Ben Solowey. Arthur Meltzer exhibited at the Phillip's Mill Community Association.



			Arthur Meltzer
		Major Solo Exhibitions MacBeth Gallery, New York, New York, 1929 Young Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, c. 1935 Crest Galleries, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 1958 Scofield Gallery, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 1960 Woodmere Art Gallery, (now the Woodmere Art Museum), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1970 Newman and Saunders Galleries, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Kramer Gallery, St. Paul, Minnesota Major Group Exhibitions Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1922-1938, 1940-1944, 1946 National Academy of Design, New York, New York, 1922 Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 1925 Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC, 1926 MacBeth Gallery, New York, New York, 1931 Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio, 1940 Woodmere Art Gallery, with Paulette Van Roekens and Davis Meltzer, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1944 McClees Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1948 Woodmere Art Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1949, 1983 Crest Galleries, New Hope, Pennsylvania, 1958 Art Alliance, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1959 Chester County Art Association, West Chester, Pennsylvania, 1960 Newman Contemporary Art Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1964 Newman Gallery, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, 1967 Abbington Art Center, Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, 1980 Newman and Saunders Gallery, Wayne, Pennsylvania, 1981 The Pennsylvania Impressionists: Painters of the New Hope School, James A. Michener Art Center, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 1990 Major Collections Art Alliance of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Carlisle Art Museum, Carlisle, Pennsylvania Columbus Gallery of the Fine Arts, Columbus, Ohio James A. Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Woodmere Art Museum (former Woodmere Art Gallery), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Commissions Philadelphia Sesquicentennial Exhibition (backdrop for forestry exhibit), three murals, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1926 Sketches of mills, Pillsbury Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota
		Publications Bridge at Trexlers, cover of the Journal of the American Medical Association, 1981 The Window on the Arts, Literature, and Society, The Mill District, Minnesota, June, 1991 Teaching and Professional Appointments Professor, Philadelphia School of Design for Women, (now the Moore College of Art and Design), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1924 Head of Fine Arts Department, Philadelphia School of Design for Women, (now the Moore College of Art and Design), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 1926 until 1949 Professor Emeritus, Moore College of Art and Design, 1983 Fellow, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1925 Major Awards Cresson Traveling Scholarship, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1921 Honorable Mention, Philadelphia Sketch Club, 1924-1927 Fellowship Prize, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1925 Honorable Mention, Philadelphia Art Club, 1926 Connecticut Prize, Hartford, Connecticut, 1931 Second Prize, Woodmere Art Gallery, 1949 First Prize, Woodmere Art Gallery, 1951 Gold Medal, Fourth Pennational Artists Annual, Ligonier Art League, 1961 Williamson Prize, Phillip's Mill Art Association, New Hope, Pennsylvania, 1963 Rosenau Prize, Old York Road Art Guild, 1967 Paul L. Gill Memorial Prize, Woodmere Art Gallery, 1967 Mary T. Mason Prize, Woodmere Art Gallery, 1969 Samuel Sutter Prize, Woodmere Art Gallery, 1971 Prize, Old York Road Art Guild, 1967, 1973 DeVecchi Prize, Phillip's Mill Art Association, New Hope, Pennsylvania, 1975 Affiliations and Memberships Da Vinci Alliance Philadelphia Art Alliance Woodmere Art Gallery Woodmere Art Gallery, Board of Directors