Obituary -- New York Times, September 17, 2006
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KELLER--Charles. 91; died August
21, 2006; BA Cornell, 1936; studied Art
Student's League; lithographs, building
NYC subway; Art Editor, New Masses;
Editorial Cartoonist, People's Daily
World. Artists on the Left, Yale, 2002.
20 solo exhibitions: Johnson Museum,
Ithaca, NY, 1976, Susan Teller Gallery,
NYC, 2004. Loving father, joyous
patriarch, gifted artist, loyal friend,
political activist is deeply missed.
Survived by Marthe, Daniel, Kathryn,
former wife Judith, grandchildren
Alexi, Cara, Colter.
Memorial: (212) 431-6923
Public web site:
www.keller-arts.com
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Obituary (longer)
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Charles Keller, beloved father, artist,
political activist, mentor and family
patriarch, died August 21, 2006, at the
age of 91. Born in 1914, graduated
Cornell, 1936, he studied at the Art
Students League in the 30's. Keller
created a series of lithographs, 1937/41
of "sandhogs" workers constructing the
6th Avenue Subway. He collaborated on
murals including one at the 1939 New York
World's Fair. He organized artists'
associations in the 1940's and was part
of a thriving artist's community around
14th St. which included Reginald Marsh,
Harry Sternberg, Isabel Bishop, Minna
Citron, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Raphael Soyer,
Rockwell Kent.
During WWII Keller designed the
"Airways to Peace" exhibition at the
Museum of Modern Art. His political
cartooning began as Art Editor of the New
Masses in 1945 and continued until 1988
for the People's Daily World. He was a
founder of the art department of the
Reference Center for Marxist Studies,
1980. He taught and lectured widely
including at Vassar College, Hofstra
University and Parsons School of
Design.
With his family, Keller lived and
painted on a co-op farm in Newburgh, NY
in the 1950's. He helped organize farm
workers with Pete Seeger and others. His
passport was revoked until the 1960's
when he moved to Rome, Italy for 12
years. Since 1974, he maintained a studio
in the East Village, NY, which remains in
operation. Keller has exhibited
internationally with more than 20
one-person shows including the most
recent at The Susan Teller Gallery, NY,
in 2004.
His cartoons have been included in
"Comic Power" at Exit Art, New York in
1993 and "Cartoons/Politics,
Personalities" at Wesleyan University in
Ohio and "Salon International de la
Caricature" in Montreal, Canada, as well
as " Satire: Weapon for Peace", traveling
exhibitions in the USSR. Most recently
Keller has been included in Andrew
Hemingway's book, Artists on the
Left, published by Yale University
Press in 2002, and Order/Disorder,
Architectural Transitions in Prints and
Photographs, published by the New
York Public Library in 1999. His
bibliography extends from 1945 to the
present.
Keller's work can be seen in
collections such as the British Museum of
Art, the NY Public Library, The Boston
Museum of Art, The Library of Congress,
The New Britain Museum of American Art,
The Schomburg Center for Research in
Black Culture, Juilliard School, The Dave
and Reba Williams Collection, The
Wolfsonian Foundation of Decorative and
Propaganda Arts, and The Herbert F.
Johnson Museum.
He is survived by Martha Keller (the
artist known as Marthe Keller) and
Kathryn Keller Rule of NY and Daniel
Keller of San Francisco and by his former
wife, Judith Keller of NYC, and his three
grandchildren, Cara Keller, Alexi Keller,
and Colter Rule.
He was much admired for his joie de
vivre, his artistic gifts and as a font
of insights into political and social
history. He was a loving father, gifted
teacher, loyal friend and life-long
activist for justice and equality. We
shall deeply miss his great spirit.
A memorial was celebrated in December,
2006 in New York. Presentations of his
art and political work are ongoing.
For details, please contact Keller Studio:
(212) 431-6923
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