Official Website of Michael Lenson - WPA Muralist and Realist Painter

IS THERE A LENSON MURAL HIDING BEHIND THE WALL PAINT AT A NEWARK PUBLIC SCHOOL?

Students of the WPA are already aware of the three known murals that Michael Lenson painted in Newark. (They are the large eight-panel "History of Newark" in Newark City Hall; "The Enlightenment of Man" at Weequahic High School; and "The Four Freedoms" at the 14th Avenue School.)

But just when we thought we knew everything, we get word that another Lenson mural might be hiding behind the wall paint in a windowless room at the Chancellor Avenue School in Newark. According to a retired teacher who worked there for many years, sometime in the 1940s Lenson painted an "astronomical mural" on the walls and ceiling of a room in the school. The room, she further reports, was converted into a storage room and the murals were painted over. 

It is amazing that even after more than six decades, the WPA is still yielding us surprises and new discoveries. We're investigating and should know more soon.  

TWO LENSON PAINTINGS CURRENTLY ON DISPLAY AT THE QUICK CENTER FOR THE ARTS

Lenson works are in the permanent collections of a number of university-affiliated museums, including those of Princeton University and Cornell. This month, we are delighted to report that two Lenson paintings are in an exhibition at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at Saint Bonaventure University.

If you are in western New York State, take time to stop by this remarkable little gem of a museum. It is beautiful, the curators know how to build compelling exhibitions around highly unusual themes. And there are many remarkable surprises to be seen in the museum's collection, including a world-class collection of Mayan artifacts that was recently gifted to the institution.

To learn more, visit the Quick Center online.

WILLIAMS AMERICAN ART GALLERIES FINDS LOST 1931 LENSON PAINTING AND OFFERS IT FOR SALE

Last month, we got a surprising eMail from Williams American Art Galleries in Nashville (615-297-2547). The gallery owner had just purchased a major Lenson painting at an estate sale. The painting in question dates from 1931, so it must have been painted in Paris. It shows a harrowing beggar playing an accordion. And it is big - over 50 inches high. 

We wonder, how did this painting find its way from Paris to a private home in the southern United States? We plan to find out. To learn more about this painting, visit Williams American Art online.  

NEW BOOK TELLS THE STORY OF LENSON'S PIONEERING WORK IN THE WPA

If you haven't yet read the new book American-Made: The Enduring Legacy of the WPA, we suggest that you do so immediately. CLICK HERE to visit the book's page on Amazon.com. In this compelling history of the WPA, author Nick Taylor devotes several pages to describing Lenson's activities as director of mural activities for the New Jersey WPA.  
 
AND YET ANOTHER BOOK DESCRIBES LENSON'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE PUBLIC ART OF THE 1930s

As interest soars in the WPA, it seems that more authors are seeing fit to describe Michael Lenson's contribution to the art that was created by "the projects." One of the most visually engaging of them is The Jews of Weequahic by Linda B. Forgosh. It includes dozens of photographs of life in the vibrant Weequahic neighborhood of Newark, New Jersey. And it also includes a beautiful photograph of Michael Lenson at work on a mural. (Lenson painted his mural, "The Enlightenment of Man" for the lobby of Weequahic High School. CLICK HERE to visit the Amazon.com page for this terrific book.

We were delighted when art historian Linda B. Forgosh contacted us several months ago to ask whether we could provide her with a photograph of Lenson to use in her upcoming book, The Jews of Weequahic. And we were again happy when we were able to locate the photograph that appears to your right, which shows the artist at work on the murals that he painted in 1939 for the lobby of Weequahic High School.

The Weequahic section of Newark was the birthplace of such notables as Philip Roth and Martin Edelston.

The neighborhood is still beautiful today. We are so pleased that Michael Lenson will be featured in this upcoming book, which promises to be a treat for students of both art and Newark History. Thank you, Linda.

And for more news about Weequahic and Lenson, please read the next item on this page.

"Art is that useless thing we cannot live without" - Michael Lenson

"What is my Lenson worth?"

That is a question that we are often asked by visitors to our Website. Unfortunately, we are not appraisers and that is a difficult question to answer. As is always the case where art works are concerned, the value of an art work is very much a question of fair market worth, as defined by what a buyer is willing to pay for a work. Nonetheless, we are always happy to try to answer questions about Lenson works. When appropriate, we can refer owners to expert appraisers who can offer valuations for insurance, donation, estate issues and other purposes. Please note that we are not affiliated with any appraisers in any way. We are simply happy to try to help when we can.

Massachusetts Review Publishes 31-Page Lenson Interview

On October 30th, 1964, the Archives of American Art sent its intrepid interviewer Harlan Phillips to interview Michael Lenson about his involvement with the W.P.A. mural projects of the 1930s. The resulting inverview offers Lenson's compelling and very personal account of what it was like to work on the public art projects. We are pleased to announce that the Fall, 2003 issue of The Massachusetts Review (Volume XLIV, No. 3) published the text of this interview, as edited by David Lenson, the artist's son. David also provided a wonderful two-page introduction to the interview that included this recollection of his father:

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"The last time I saw him, he was driving me to the train station in Newark on a rainy Sunday morning. Traffic was light, but he was driving erratically, and ran a red light. Having realized this, he stopped in the middle of the road and slapped his forehead. I asked him what was wrong. `I have just broken,' he said ruefully, 'the only law I respect.'"

Lenson Print Selected as Cover Art for New Book

When William Falk, Michael Schulman and Ann Tickamyer were seeking an evocative image for
the cover of their new book Communities of Work: Rural Restructuring in Local and Global
Contexts, they reviewed the graphic works in the Goldstein Collection at the Library of Congress.
They selected a Lenson lithograph, which will appear on the cover of their new book, due out
later this year from the Ohio University Press. The litho is Full Production and Full Employment,
an illustration that Lenson did for a speech given by FDR. “We are all delighted to have found
this powerful image for the cover,” comments Gillian Berchowitz, the publisher’s Senior Editor.

Questions or comments? Contact the Friends of Michael Lenson by writing to us in the box to the right and pressing "send." Please be sure to include your e-mail address or phone so that we can get back in touch with you shortly.