Malcah Zeldis

Malcah Zeldis (born Mildred Brightman; September 22, 1931) is an American folk painter. She is known for work that draws from a mix of biblical, historical, and autobiographical themes.

Life and career Early life Malcah Zeldis was born in the Bronx, New York, and raised in a Jewish neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan. Her father faced work discrimination for his religion and the family was poor, but eventually moved to a middle-class neighborhood. These paintings would later inspire her colorful works with many small figures.

Israel 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 had little confidence in the quality of her work. However, Aaron Giladi, a well known Israeli artist visited the kibbutz and praised Zeldis’s paintings. Zeldis was overwhelmed by his regard and his request for two paintings, saying, "I lost my voice from excitement—I couldn’t go to his lecture I was so emotionally upset. I heard afterwards that he said I was a great artist". Zeldis later illustrated a number of children's books in collaboration with her daughter, Yona Zeldis.

Painting style Zeldis's paintings are generally flat, lacking proportion, and brightly colored with busy compositions featuring crisply defined figures. Critics describe her colors as being explosive. Zeldis's works include everyday objects that ground the viewers in reality, yet include surprising subjects such as presidents, leading ladies, and biblical characters. Her whimsical images contain a number of storytelling devices and attempt to convey a narrative. After recovering from cancer in 1986, Zeldis was too weak to lift the masonite boards she regularly used, and instead painted on corrugated cardboard found in the street. Malcah Zeldis has also illustrated Honest Abe and Martin Luther King.

Selected works Miss Liberty Celebration, 1987, oil on corrugated cardboard, 54 1/2 x 36 1/2 in. (138.4 x 92.7 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. Nude on a Couch, 1973, oil on masonite, , American Folk Art Museum, gift of Marilyn Grais. Pieta, 1973, oil on fiberboard, 26 x 22 in. (66.0 x 55.9 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson , 1974, oil on panel, 23 1/2 x 31 7/8 in. (59.7 x 81.0 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of David L. Davies Miss America Beauty Pageant, 1973, oil on masonite, 48 x 40 in. (121.9 x 101.6 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. In Shul, 1986, Oil on Masonite, , American Folk Art Museum, gift of the artist, dedicated to the memory of her father, Morris Brightman.