Albert Pels (1910-1998) was both a teacher and artist of figures, genre scenes, urban and rural images, illustrations and murals. He worked in the mediums of oil, fresco, and watercolor. He was born on May 7, 1910 in Cincinnati Ohio.
While in Ohio beginning in 1931, Pels attended the Cincinnati Art Academy where he won several scholarships. After moving to New York, Pels continued his education at the Art Students League, Beaux Arts and the American School, studying under Thomas Hart Benton, Kenneth Hayes Miller, and Alexander Brook at the Art Students League.
Pels was a member of the National Society of Mural Painters, the Salmagundi Club, and the Society of Independent Artists. He was on the board of directors of the Arts Students League in 1939, and also the board the WPA Artists. One of the more well-known murals done by Albert Pels was for the Normal, Illinois, Post Office lobby, which was a product of an assignment under the Section of Fine Arts. The mural is entitled Development of the State Normal School.
Pels took his sculptural approach even further in his exhibition at the Laurel Gallery in January 1949, where his figures appeared to pop out from the background, creating a trompe l'oeil effect. Pels continued to utilize this sculptural style, evident in his subsequent exhibitions. Pels exhibited on October 7th, 1949 at Arthur Brown's Gallery in New York City, continuing to develop this sculptural style.
Albert Pels had also shown in a number of additional galleries, museums, and one-man exhibitions. Some of them included the Macbeth Galleries, 1939; Babcock Gallery, 1941, 1945 – 46, 1949; Pulitzer Gallery, 1951; International Gallery, 1953; Laurel Gallery, 1955; Cincinnati Museum; Denver Museum; Butler Art Institute, Youngstown, Ohio; and Rachel Davis Fine Arts, Cleveland, 1996. He also exhibited in group shows at the Babcock Gallery, New York City; Albany Museum, Albany New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City; Philadelphia Museum, P.A.; Butler Art Institute; Art Students League; and Southern Art Museum.
Later in his career, Pels founded the Albert Pels Art School in New York City at 71 W. 71 Street. He held classes in drawing, painting, commercial art, fashion, and cartooning for all ages and levels of study. He was the director until the late 1980's when it was sold. Albert Pels died at the age of eighty-eight on January 25, 1998 in New York City.
Sources:
Hendler, Jeanette. "Albert Pels (1910-1998)"[Internet]. June 2007 [cited 6 July 2013].
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