Melville Price

1920 - 1970

Melville Price was one of the youngest of the first generation Abstract Expressionist circle of painters working in New York after WWII. Though only in his late twenties he began exhibiting in 1948 in New York at Hugo, Bodely, Iolas and Egan galleries. In a 1949 showing at Peridot galleries Price was hailed for his breakthrough work titled the "Maze Series." A complex interweaving of organic shapes, automatic in nature and sometimes resembling bones or body parts, the "Maze" paintings exuded a pulsating energy that brought him critical acclaim. He received rave reviews in Art Digest, New York Times and New York Tribune. Melville Price was on his way. Melville Price grew up in a prosperous family in Kingston, New York where he had a studio in the family home from an early age. The Depression began to take a toll on the family business and the untimely death of his father in 1939 was a devastating blow from which Price never fully recovered. Unable to afford formal schooling, Price began studying informally at the Art Students League, the New School for Social Research and the National Academy of Design. Prior to his father's death Mel befriended the painter Joseph Stella who became his artistic guide and mentor, introducing him to the avant-garde styles of cubism and surrealism and encouraging the younger painter to experiment. Price also got a job with the WPA where he met the older generation of modern painters including Gorky, de Kooning, Pollock and Kline. Franz Kline, in particular, became a life-long friend and soul mate. Between 1946 and 48 his style moved away from a surrealist based work to a decentralized, all-over manner of painting which eventually became the "Maze" works. When the "Club" was started Price was invited to join and forged close relationships with other members of the New York School including Fritz Bultman, Giorgio Cavallon, Weldon Kees, Bradley Walker Tomlin, Robert Motherwell, Milton Resnick and Conrad Marca-Relli. In 1951 he was honored to be included in the 9th St. Show, the premier event of the Abstract Expressionist movement. In spite of this success, as with most of his colleagues, money was scarce and Price supplemented his income working for the framemakers Benevi & Feist and the House of Heydenryck. Still, times were tough and in 1951 he and Kline accepted part-time jobs teaching in Philadelphia at the Museum School, commuting together a couple of days each week between the two cities. Price found that he liked teaching, enjoyed the paycheck and there was a thriving abstract art scene there that somewhat paralleled what was happening in New York. After the first year Kline gave up the job and Price moved full time to Philadelphia where he began exhibiting with Dubin and Hendler galleries. In 1955 he married one of his students, Barbara Gillette and the couple moved soon to the picturesque town of New Hope on the Delaware River. There Price began his next major cycle of paintings titled the "New Hope Series." Though different in composition, these vibrant, muscular works were a logical extension of the successful "Maze" paintings and brought Price positive attention. In 1958 he accepted a visiting teaching position (which would become a full time appointment) at the University of Alabama. Mel and Barbara spent twelve happy years in Tuscaloosa — known as the "Yale of the South," it was an energetic, liberal bastion of creativity with a fabulous faculty and student body. In 1962, with a sabbatical from the University, Price began work on an ambitious project called the "Black Warrior," a 9 x 16 foot canvas on which he completed in 1963. He followed the success of "Black Warrior" with a new series of large, mixed media assemblage canvases incorporating new elements of oil and collage with references to POP, Rauschenberg and Johns. These works, in turn, were pointing the painter in yet another exciting direction when he suddenly died of a massive heart attack in 1970. After his death Price was honored with retrospective exhibitions at the University of Alabama, the Speed Museum and the Corcoran Gallery. He is represented in numerous private and public collections including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Corcoran Museum of Art, the Los Angeles Museum County Museum of Art and the Milwaukee Art Museum. We have represented his estate for eighteen years.

Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Melville Price
c.1949, photographer unknown
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Lady and the Lion I, 1967
oil and mixed media collage on canvas
96 x 70 inches
signed and dated verso
#5778
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Tuscaloosa, 1967
oil and mixed media collage on canvas
96 x 70 inches
signed and dated verso
#5777
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Lady and the Lion, III, 1967
oil and mixed media collage on canvas
96 x 70 inches
signed and dated verso
#5776
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Art Nudes, 1965
oil and mixed media collage on canvas
74 x 69 inches
signed, titled and dated verso
#5779
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled, 1959
oil on masonite panel
35 x 42 inches
signed, dated and estate stamped verso
#7006
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Holiday, 1964
oil and mixed media collage on canvas
51 x 41 inches
signed, titled and dated verso
Provenance: Estate of the artist
#1469
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
The Shirt, 1965
oil and mixed media collage on canvas
96 x 70 inches
signed and dated verso
#5775
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled Collage, 1967
mixed media on canvas
66 1/2 x 74 inches
signed and dated verso, estate stamped verso
#8199
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled (Two Figures), 1944
oil/gouache on paper mounted to board
22 x 14 3/4 inches
signed and dated verso
#380
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Feb. 70, 1970
oil on canvas
84 x 69 inches
Estate stamped verso
#2890
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled, 1947
oil on canvas
18 x 36 inches
signed and dated at upper center
#6003
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Solar, 1963
oil and mixed media collage on canvas
68 5/8 x 47 inches
signed, titled and dated verso
#4842
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Biomorphic Abstraction, 1946-48
mixed media on heavy wove paper
20 x 26 inches
estate stamped verso
#12524
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Study for Black Warrior, 1960
Oil and crayon on paper mounted to canvas
9 x 12 inches
Signed at lower left, estate stamped verso
#7852
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Study for Black Warrior, 1960
oil and crayon on paper mounted to canvas
9 3/4 x 12 inches
signed at lower left, estate stamped verso
#9460
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled (Study for Black Warrior), 1961
oil, crayon, and pencil on paper
9 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches
signed upper right, PR20, PR104
#4419
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled, c. 1957
oil on paper
24 x 18 inches
estate signature stamp at lower right
#6546
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Study for Black Warrior, 1960
oil on paper mounted to canvas
9 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches
annotated verso, Alabama, 1960
#9459
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled (Study for Black Warrior), c. 1961
oil on paper mounted to canvas
9 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches
signed lower right
#4149
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled-Maze Series, c. 1950
watercolor and gouache on paper
18 x 24 inches
signed at lower right; estate stamped verso
#12517
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled (Study for Black Warrior), 1960
oil, gouache and crayon on paper mounted to canvas
10 x 12 inches
signed lower left, dated verso, estate stamped verso
#3434
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled, 1970
oil on canvas
66 x 50 inches
signed and dated verso
#7834
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled (New Hope), c. 1956
pastel and charcoal on paper
7 1/4 x 11 1/2 inches
signed at lower right; estate stamped verso
#11964
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled, c. 1950
gouache and ink on board
9 5/8 x 13 5/8 inches
signed at lower right; estate stamped verso
#11967
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled, c. 1957
pastel and graphite on paper
10 5/8 x 14 inches
signed at lower right; estate stamped verso
#11966
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled, 1950
watermedia on paper
18 x 24 inches
estate stamped at lower left
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled, 1960
oil on paper
18 x 24 inches
signed and dated at lower left
#6551
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled, c. 1955
pastel and pencil on paper
10 5/8 x 14 inches
signed at lower right; estate stamped verso
#11965
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled, c. 1959
oil on paper
18 x 24 inches
estate signature stamp at lower right
#6550
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled (New Hope), c. 1957
on paper
10 x 7 7/8 inches
signed at lower right; estate stamped verso
#11963
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled (New Hope), c. 1956
pencil on paper
7 x 9 1/4 inches
signed at lower right; estate stamped verso
#11961
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled, 1960
oil on paper
18 x 24 inches
signed and dated lower right
#6013
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled , 1957
pastel on paper
11 x 14 inches
signed, dated and estate stamped verso
#5486
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled (Surrealist Study), c. 1946
gouache and ink on paper (2 sheets)
20 x 14 7/8 inches
signed at lower right; estate stamped verso
#11968
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled, c. 1959
oil on paper
19 x 12 inches
estate signature stamp at lower right; estate stamped verso
#6568
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled, c. 1959
oil on paper
18 3/4 x 23 1/2 inches
estate signature stamp at lower right; estate stamped verso
#6548
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled, c. 1961
oil on paper
18 x 24 inches
#6552
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled, c. 1965
mixed media on paper
17 x 22 5/8 inches
signed at lower right; estate stamped verso
#12030
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled, 1962
graphite on paper
18 x 22 1/2 inches
signed and dated at lower right; estate stamped verso
#12028
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled, c. 1962
oil on paper
18 x 24 inches
estate signature stamp at lower right; estate stamped verso
#6539
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Bull, 1961
graphite on paper
18 x 24 inches
signed, titled and dated at lower right; estate stamped verso
#11969
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Self, c. 1944
pencil on paper
9 x 6 inches
estate stamped verso
#12023
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled, c. 1957
charcoal on paper
18 3/4 x 23 3/4 inches
signed at lower right; estate stamped verso
#12029
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled, c. 1944
ink on paper
9 x 8 inches
estate stamped verso
#12018
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled, c. 1947
ink on paper
4 x 6 inches
estate stamped verso
#12013
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled, 1969-70
mixed media on paper
14 x 11 inches
estate stamped verso
#4498
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled Woman, 1955-58
pencil on paper
10 x 7 3/4 inches
signed at lower right; estate stamped verso
#4446
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Two Figures, 1952
ink on board
9 1/2 x 10 inches
signed and dated at upper left; estate stamped verso
#12022
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled, c. 1956
graphite on paper
14 x 10 1/2 inches
estate stamped verso
#12017
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled, c. 1948
ink and gouache in board
8 3/4 x 9 1/2 inches
estate stamped verso
#12014
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Untitled Abstract Arrangement, c. 1944
pencil on paper
4 x 4 1/2 inches
estate stamped verso
#12025
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Two Rabbis, c. 1944
watercolor on paper
6 1/2 x 5 inches
estate stamped verso
#12026
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Dante, c. 1944
ink on paper
6 1/2 x 4 3/4 inches
titled on mount; estate stamped verso
#12021
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
Trapeze Performer, c. 1944
ink on paper
6 1/2 x 3 3/4 inches
estate stamped verso
#12020
Melville Price (1920 - 1970)
River Styx, c. 1944
pencil on paper
7 1/2 x 9 inches
estate stamped verso
#12019