Albert Pels Oil Painting on Unstretched Canvas "Violence in the Streets"

Item Details

An oil painting on unstretched canvas titled Violence in the streets by well-listed American genre painter and muralist Albert Pels (Cincinnati/New York; 1910 – 1998), created circa 1970-80. This painting depicts a somber street scene in which a dark urban space is occupied by a sorrowful crowd of working-class Americans under attack. Violent ambiance is portrayed with two bleeding bodies, guns, and observing children. The composition is rendered in a muted palette with intermittent bursts of red. This work is signed in brown near to the lower right corner of the composition. Unframed.

Sold to benefit a scholarship fund for the Art Academy of Cincinnati.

Pels began his formal artistic training in his hometown at the Cincinnati Art Academy in 1931. Upon graduating, he further pursued his artistic career and moved to New York, refining his technique while continuing his education at the Art Students League, working under the likes of historically renowned artists Thomas Hart Benton, Kenneth Hayes Miller, and Alexander Brook. Pels went on to study at Beaux Arts and the American School, and in doing so established his distinctive, signature painting style and content for which he became recognized.

Condition

- wear and nail punctures around outer edges of canvas from a previous stretching; bends, curling, and fraying throughout canvas edges.

Dimensions

Item #

16CIN650-025