Malcah Zeldis, Malcah Zeldis Folk Art Gouache Painting King David Self Taught Outsider Artist 1982

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MALCAH ZELDIS (American-Israeli, b. 1931),
''David and Saul'', 1982,
Gouache on paper
Hand signed and dated lower right, titled in … Read more MALCAH ZELDIS (American-Israeli, b. 1931),
''David and Saul'', 1982,
Gouache on paper
Hand signed and dated lower right, titled in pencil on paper verso.
Provenance: Estate of Laura Fisher, New York, NY. (a noted Americana antiques dealer with a specialization on quilts and textiles.)

This depicts the biblical King David playing a harp in front of King Saul with Sheep and a nude woman in background.


Malcah Zeldis (born Mildred Brightman; 1931) is an American folk art painter. She is known for work that draws from a mix of biblical, historical, and autobiographical themes. She is one of the leading self-taught contemporary artists, best known for her paintings depicting urban life, historical and religious events, her heroes, and her own life. Her paintings have been widely exhibited. Her work is in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and was used for the invitation and posters for the traveling exhibition: American Art on the Move which toured museums during 2001. Of special note is the one-person show presented by the Museum of American Folk Art at New York University in 1988. It was the first time the museum had presented a one-person exhibition of the work of a living folk artist.

Malcah Zeldis was born in the Bronx, New York, and raised in a Jewish ghetto in Detroit, Michigan. Her father faced work discrimination for his religion and the family was poor, but eventually moved to a middle-class neighborhood. However, Zeldis looks back on her years in Detroit fondly, stating that what she remembers best is the nature. She also remembers weekend visits to the Detroit Institute of Arts where she recalls being taken by brightly colored Flemish paintings full of small figures. These paintings would later inspire her colorful works with many small figures.
As a non-devout Jew, Zeldis felt disconnected from her people and wanted to explore her heritage. She moved to Israel in 1949 at the age of eighteen, becoming a Zionist and working on a kibbutz. It was here that Zeldis met her future husband, Hiram Zeldis. The two went back to the US to marry, and then returned to the kibbutz. Zeldis began painting, yet as a self taught artist had little confidence in the quality of her work. However, Aaron Giladi, a well known Israeli artist visited the kibbutz and praised Zeldis’s oil paintings. His suggestion to paint larger intimidated Zeldis. After trying and failing to use larger canvases she stopped painting for a period of time, which was extended by childbirth and a permanent move to Brooklyn, New York. Zeldis finally resumed painting twenty-three years later, as her children grew older and her marriage ended. She enrolled in Brooklyn College as an Early Childhood Studies major in 1970. The college had a "life experience" policy, which prompted Zeldis to submit her paintings despite continued apprehension over whether they were good enough. Much to her surprise, Zeldis's paintings were well received and her teacher introduced her work to an art critic, who further suggested showing her work to dealers. This period was a turning point for Zeldis, as she realized that her lack of training was not a barrier to the art world. It was around this time that she observed Haitian folk art in a gallery. She found Haitian folk art very stylistically similar to her own, and finally believed that she was an artist. Zeldis began painting seriously and had a number of gallery shows. Her work also appeared in books such as the International Dictionary of Naive Art and Moments in Jewish Life: The Folk Art of Malcah Zeldis. Zeldis later worked in children's book illustration in collaboration with her daughter, Yona Zeldis. Her naive, whimsical images contain a number of storytelling devices and attempt to convey a narrative. She has worked in oils, acrylic and watercolor paintings. She is also fond of biblical themes. Israel, and the larger Jewish world, have had a Vibrant Folk Art, Naive art scene for a long time now, artists like Yisrael Paldi, Nahum Guttman, Reuven Rubin and even Yefim Ladyzhensky had naive periods. The most well know of the strict naive artists are Shalom of Safed, Irene Awret, Gabriel Cohen, Natan Heber, Michael Falk and Kopel Gurwin.
Zeldis and her daughter have written and illustrated Eve and Her Sisters: Women of the Old Testament, God Sent a Rainbow and Other Bible Stories, Anne Frank, Sisters in Strength: American Women Who Made a Difference, and Hammerin' Hank. Malcah Zeldis has also illustrated Honest Abe (President Abraham Lincoln) and African American civil rights icon Martin Luther King.

She earned her Bachelor’s degree at Brooklyn College, New York in 1970. She has exhibited her works at American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland; Wright Museum of African American History, Detroit, Michigan; The Bass Museum of Fine Art, Miami Beach, FL, Frederick Weisman Art Museum, MI; Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN; Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, AL; Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York; Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, FL; Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, NY; Terra Museum of Art, Chicago, IL; Stedman Art Gallery, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ; Creative Heart Gallery, Winston-Salem, NC; Modern Primitive Gallery, Atlanta, GA; New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA; Jay Johnson Gallery, New York, NY; and the Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL. Her work is in the permanent collections of museums such as Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Museum, Williamsburg, VA; Akron Museum, Akron, OH; International Folk Art Museum, Santa Fe, NM; Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Museum, Rutgers Collection of Children’s Literature, New Brunswick, NJ; Jewish Museum, New York, NY; John Judson Memorial American Museum, Washington, DC; Milwaukee Museum of Art, Milwaukee, WI; May Museum of Art, Lawrence NY; The Museum, Kresge Art Gallery, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI; Musée D'Art Naif De Lille de France, Paris, France; The American Folk Art Museum, New York, NY; Noyes Museum, Oceanville, NJ; St. Louis Mid-American Arts Alliance (Mulvane Art Center), St. Louis, MO; Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA; Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC; and the Yeshiva University Museum, New York, NY.
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Museum, Williamsburg, VA
Akron Museum, Akron, OH
International Folk Art Museum, Santa Fe, NM
Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Museum, Rutgers Collection of Children’s Literature, New Brunswick, NJ
Jewish Museum, New York, NY
John Judson Memorial American Museum, Bath, England
Klutznick National Jewish Museum, Washington, DC
Milwaukee Museum of Art, Milwaukee, WI
May Museum of Art, Lawrence, NY
Kresge Art Center Gallery, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Musée d’Art Naïf – Max Fourny, Paris, France
The American Folk Art Museum, New York, NY
New York State Historical Association, Cooperstown, NY
Noyes Museum, Oceanville, NJ
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Museum, Philadelphia, PA
St. Louis Mid-America Arts Alliance (Mulvane Art Center), St. Louis, MO
Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA
Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC
Yeshiva University Museum, New York, NY See less