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Edward Melcarth
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Edward Melcarth
Edward Melcarth (January 31, 1914 – December 13, 1973), was born as Edward Epstein in Louisville, Kentucky to Eva Epstein (born Ehrmann) and Edward "Eddie" Epstein Sr., a wealthy Jewish family. His grandfather was a noted distiller and liquor dealer, Hilmar Ehrmann and he was the nephew of Herbert B. Ehrmann and Sara R. Ehrmann. After his father died in February 1920, his mother, whose family discouraged her from becoming an opera singer, remarried to Sir Reginald Mitchell Banks, KC, and Member of Parliament for Swindon, in 1926. Eva and Edward then moved to the U.K. to live with Reginald, and Edward spent the next decade in Europe.
Edward changed his last name to Melcarth on February 10, 1936, after he rejected his religion, to reflect that of the Phoenician god Melqart. He was an openly gay, Jewish, and communist artist who preferred to work in painting, sculpture, and photography. Melcarth's circle included famous art collector Peggy Guggenheim (with whom Melcarth designed her famous 'butterfly framed' sunglasses that were popularized as "bat glasses" by Maila Nurmi as Vampira), as well as notable art collector Malcolm Forbes, who would was a collector throughout Melcarth's career and went on to also purchase the remaining collection of Melcarth's artwork after his death.
While he presented himself as openly homosexual, he did marry Joan Beer, a woman also known as Hansi Kostolany, in Paris during the summer of 1939. The couple eventually divorced in 1944 and he did not remarry. During World War II, he served as a seaman in the United States Merchant Marine.
Later in life, Melcarth moved to Venice, Italy where he lived until dying at age 59 on Friday, December 13, 1973. His obituary was published in the New York Times.
Melcarth left his home in the U.K. to pursue his personal interests and career, studied at Harvard University, the Chelsea College of Arts, and Stanley William Hayter's Atelier 17 in Paris, a notable print studio where European modernists gathered and produced limited editions. In the Fall of 1951, he returned to Kentucky and taught at the University of Louisville. The following year, he left the United States for Italy in February. There, he resided at the Casa dei Tre Oci, Venice. Melcarth later returned to the United States in November 1952. By 1953, he was residing in New York City and it became his primary residence.
His work did not follow Abstract Expressionism, which was popular at the time he was working and rather focused on figurative painting. He did this in a style he referred to as Social Romanticism, which used techniques similar to those of the Renaissance, rendering the mundane as extraordinary. His work revolved around masculinity, religion, portraiture, drug use, and the American scene. Melcarth's paintings of men and women riding motorbikes, enjoying the beach, and relaxing seem to enjoy looking and being looked at. The subject of his art included young, heterosexual, masculine men he had intimate relationships with who occupied jobs as blue-collar workers, sailors, hustlers, addicts, and trade positions. Often, the subjects depicted within his work were shared within other artists' work as well, including his roommate and close friend Thomas Painter. Painter was also Melcarth's connection to the sexologist Alfred Kinsey, who would later study the theme of homoeroticism within Melcarth's work. Melcarth and Painter also lived with the Kentucky-born artist Henry Faulkner in New York City for a short period of time following WWII. They shared friends, artistic interests and sexual partners.
Along with painting, Melcarth was also a photographer and sculptor. He took erotic photos of his sexual partners to sell or trade with other likeminded New Yorkers. Members of the group often hired the same models and, cruising together, they would occasionally secretively take pictures of sunbathers at Coney Island Beach.
Melcarth's friends and patrons included:
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Edward Melcarth
Edward Melcarth (January 31, 1914 – December 13, 1973), was born as Edward Epstein in Louisville, Kentucky to Eva Epstein (born Ehrmann) and Edward "Eddie" Epstein Sr., a wealthy Jewish family. His grandfather was a noted distiller and liquor dealer, Hilmar Ehrmann and he was the nephew of Herbert B. Ehrmann and Sara R. Ehrmann. After his father died in February 1920, his mother, whose family discouraged her from becoming an opera singer, remarried to Sir Reginald Mitchell Banks, KC, and Member of Parliament for Swindon, in 1926. Eva and Edward then moved to the U.K. to live with Reginald, and Edward spent the next decade in Europe.
Edward changed his last name to Melcarth on February 10, 1936, after he rejected his religion, to reflect that of the Phoenician god Melqart. He was an openly gay, Jewish, and communist artist who preferred to work in painting, sculpture, and photography. Melcarth's circle included famous art collector Peggy Guggenheim (with whom Melcarth designed her famous 'butterfly framed' sunglasses that were popularized as "bat glasses" by Maila Nurmi as Vampira), as well as notable art collector Malcolm Forbes, who would was a collector throughout Melcarth's career and went on to also purchase the remaining collection of Melcarth's artwork after his death.
While he presented himself as openly homosexual, he did marry Joan Beer, a woman also known as Hansi Kostolany, in Paris during the summer of 1939. The couple eventually divorced in 1944 and he did not remarry. During World War II, he served as a seaman in the United States Merchant Marine.
Later in life, Melcarth moved to Venice, Italy where he lived until dying at age 59 on Friday, December 13, 1973. His obituary was published in the New York Times.
Melcarth left his home in the U.K. to pursue his personal interests and career, studied at Harvard University, the Chelsea College of Arts, and Stanley William Hayter's Atelier 17 in Paris, a notable print studio where European modernists gathered and produced limited editions. In the Fall of 1951, he returned to Kentucky and taught at the University of Louisville. The following year, he left the United States for Italy in February. There, he resided at the Casa dei Tre Oci, Venice. Melcarth later returned to the United States in November 1952. By 1953, he was residing in New York City and it became his primary residence.
His work did not follow Abstract Expressionism, which was popular at the time he was working and rather focused on figurative painting. He did this in a style he referred to as Social Romanticism, which used techniques similar to those of the Renaissance, rendering the mundane as extraordinary. His work revolved around masculinity, religion, portraiture, drug use, and the American scene. Melcarth's paintings of men and women riding motorbikes, enjoying the beach, and relaxing seem to enjoy looking and being looked at. The subject of his art included young, heterosexual, masculine men he had intimate relationships with who occupied jobs as blue-collar workers, sailors, hustlers, addicts, and trade positions. Often, the subjects depicted within his work were shared within other artists' work as well, including his roommate and close friend Thomas Painter. Painter was also Melcarth's connection to the sexologist Alfred Kinsey, who would later study the theme of homoeroticism within Melcarth's work. Melcarth and Painter also lived with the Kentucky-born artist Henry Faulkner in New York City for a short period of time following WWII. They shared friends, artistic interests and sexual partners.
Along with painting, Melcarth was also a photographer and sculptor. He took erotic photos of his sexual partners to sell or trade with other likeminded New Yorkers. Members of the group often hired the same models and, cruising together, they would occasionally secretively take pictures of sunbathers at Coney Island Beach.
Melcarth's friends and patrons included:
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