Albert Pels Oil Painting on Unstretched Canvas "Street Acrobat"

Item Details

An original oil painting on an unstretched canvas titled Street Acrobat, created by well-listed American genre painter and muralist Albert Pels (Cincinnati/New York; 1910 – 1998), created in 1984. This work features a young woman wearing a revealing white two-piece costume, riding a unicycle while juggling pins. She is surrounded by a crowd of people who watch her in the perform on the street. The work is portrayed in Pels’ signature style of vibrant colors contrasted against a dark background, bold delineated outlines, and textural painterly brushstrokes. This canvas is signed to the lower right. Handwriting to the verso includes the title, date ‘12/84’, and ‘Damar, 2/87, Photo, 5/87’. The work is presented unstretched and 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, Pels 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

- some scratches and folds in canvas; some fraying at canvas edges.

Dimensions

Item #

16CIN650-059