About Malcah Zeldis

Malcah Zeldis, born 1931, is a renowned American folk artist, noted for her paintings of Jewish domestic life and historical icons such as Abraham Lincoln Martin Luther King, Marilyn Monroe, and Anne Frank. Her solo exhibit in 1988 at the American Folk Art Museum in New York City showed her clear commitment to Civil Rights of all peoples. Her work has been widely published in books including "Moments of Jewish Life". Malcah Zeldis was born Mildred Brightman on September 22, 1931, in the Bronx, New York. Shortly after her birth, her family moved to Detroit, where he father made a living as a window washer. She graduated from high school with strong Zionist leanings and in 1948 went to live on a kibbutz in Israel. She met and married Hiram Zeldis, a writer who was also from Detroit. The couple were married in Detroit and returned to Israel. She was encouraged to paint by Aaron Giladi, an Israeli artist who saw her artwork during a visit to the kibbutz. In 1958 Zeldis left Israel with her family and settled in New York. For more than ten years, she was a mother and housewife. Her husband and her father actively discouraged her from painting. Although she considered restarting to paint during this time, she did not have enough confidence to pursue it. During the early 1970s, as her children grew older and her marriage floundered, she was admitted to Brooklyn College. In 1974, she graduated, obtained a divorce and began painting in earnest. Malcah Zeldis, one of the leading self-taught contemporary artists, her paintings are an expression of her own life, her experiences, her feelings, her religion and her environment. She is best known for her paintings depicting urban life, historical and religious events, and her heroes. Her spirited narrative style expresses an optimistic life view and a strong social commitment. With her flat style and bold colors, Malcah creates works of art which have great appeal. She does not concern herself with academic rules of painting; she follows her own rules. She often rapidly sketches her design and then paints in oil on canvas or board or in gouache or tempera on paper. Malcah's work in the permanent collections of many museums around the world including the American Folk Art Museum, the National Museum of American Art, the Jewish Museum, the Milwaukee Museum of Art, and the International Folk Art Museum. There is a book about her art titled "Moments in Jewish Life - The Folk Art of Malcah Zeldis". She has also illustrated three children's books ... "Eve and Her Sisters - Women of the Old Testament", "Honest Abe", and "Peaceful Protest - The Life of Nelson Mandella"