"Free-Flow", Constructivist Painting by Noah Grossman, 1945

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"Free-Flow", Constructivist painting by Noah Grossman, signed and dated 1945.

The dark colors and swirling shapes give this painting a … Read more "Free-Flow", Constructivist painting by Noah Grossman, signed and dated 1945.

The dark colors and swirling shapes give this painting a delightful moody, sensual feeling.

Beautiful silver leaf frame.

It retains its original tag from the 1947 Pepsi-Cola "Paintings of the Year" competition on the back.

The 1947 Pepsi-Cola "Paintings of the Year" competition, held at the National Academy of Design in Manhattan, featured 159 paintings selected from nearly 3,000 entries, aimed at highlighting American artists. The competition was aimed at creating a "Portrait of America" through contemporary art. Competition Goal: The 1947 competition was part of a shift by Pepsi-Cola to support American artists and select art for their annual calendar, a tradition that ran in the mid-1940s.

First Prize Winner (1947)
Henry Kallem: Won the $2,500 first prize for his painting, "Country Tenement".

"The Big Money" Article by TIME (13 Oct 1947):

In four years, Pepsi-Cola’s annualshow has become a major art event. The cogent reason: Pepsi offers more cash (though not more prestige) than any other art show. This year’s payoff: $35,950 in prizes.
Nearly 3,000 painters had heeded the tinkle of Pepsi’s cash register. Of their entries, 159 went on display in Manhattan’s National Academy of Design last week. The paintings were mostly mediocre landscapes and city scenes. Most of the exhibiting artists were unknown on 57th Street (Manhattan’s Gallery Row), so their almost unfailing competence, learned in the country’s burgeoning art schools, came as a slight shock to complacent Manhattanites.
First prize ($2,500) went to one of the few bright spots: a tall, rainbow-colored patchwork of windows against a night sky. It had been painted by an unknown, 34-year-old Philadelphian named Henry Kallem, who submitted it without much expectation of winning a prize. Like last year’s prizewinning What Atomic War Will Do to You, Kallem’s half-abstract canvas bore a socially conscious title: Country Tenement. Explained Kallem: “My idea was to show how I felt seeing this scene one evening in the country—all the people crowded into one building with all that space around. I tried to achieve a somber mood. . . .”
Kallem himself was feeling far from somber. “During the war,” he said, “I worked in an aircraft factory, and I’ve been living on my savings ever since. I gave myself about two years to see how I would make out. If I didn’t get anywhere, then I figured on resigning myself to being a Sunday painter. My savings were almost gone when this happened. You see, it’s the first painting I ever sold.” See less