​Albert Pels with Lena Horn, 1950's

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Old Masters, 19th and 20th Century Art


Albert Pels

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At the age of 21 Albert Pels left his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio to study art in New York City.  While enrolled at the Art Students League he fell under the influence of his tutors, Thomas Hart Benton, Kenneth Hayes Miller and Alexander Brook and formed a distinctive style early on that can be compared to his mentors.  Like his teachers and many other artists of the day he found ripe subject matter in the daily lives of the common people.   Besides his works on canvas, Pels became an accomplished muralist and obtained an important commission from the Federal government under the Section of Fine Arts, a program similar to the WPA, that sought to provide work for artists during the Great Depression.  For this project he painted the mural Development of the State Normal School in the Post Office lobby in Normal, Illinois.  Pels exhibited widely in galleries and museums and late in life he founded his own art school in NYC.


Museums:

Massillon Museum of Art, Massillon, Ohio

​Philadelphia Museum of Art


Murals:

Normal, Il.

Wilmington, DE

​Washington, DC