The career of Charles Keller was one of painter, printmaker and cartoonist driven by his commitment to social and political engagement.
He was a skilled draftsman, applying a continuous observational practice throughout his career. His unique synthesis of commentary and creativity renders his work both historically significant and artistically compelling.
Known for his early social realist style and figurative genre painting, Keller also experimented with modernist approaches from cubism to abstract expressionism. While his style and imagery changed over the years, from his earliest sketches and political cartoons to his later abstractions, the underlying structure in Keller's work remains consistent and is the foundation of his aesthetic sensibility.
Keller sketches constantly throughout his career observing and recording the world around him, filling notebooks with portraits of workers, political activists, musicians and everyday scenes, allowing him to capture the social and political climate of his times. Keller was dedicated to constructing images that told enduring stories, were often polemic, deeply humane and socially relevant.