Charles Keller

Early Activist (1937-51)

Charles Keller lived and worked in New York City from the late 1930s though the 1940s. During this period, he's finding his way among other artists and developing his Social Realist style. His work reflects his political engagement as he learns printmaking and first applies himself as a cartoonist. His skill as a draftsman is on full display in his lithographs from this period which depict the construction of the Sixth Avenue subway. He begins in earnest to depict the plight of workers, which remained a central topic throughout his career.

Keller also spent time in North Carolina in the 1940s where he produced a number of gouache on board panels as well as conte drawings in his observational style and always from a humanistic perspective.