Balcony

Anchel’s lithograph depicts a large balcony appearing to be located in a theater. Figures stand above and below it, all in groups except for one. Most of the figures hold happy or neutral expressions, whereas the lone figure is almost brooding. He looms over the edge of the balcony, looking below. The balcony and ceiling are not rendered in a uniform perspective; they curve and seem to create a bubble around the second floor. The linear quality of the piece parallels its architecture: railings, windows, and building edges create a geometric framework that contrasts with and surrounds the organic shapes of the human figures. Anchel draws our focus towards the private balcony, his line work flowing towards isolated box seats at lower right. The value of the figures is much darker than the rest of the work, emphasizing their faces against the background. This private section sits closer to the stage, in contrast to a bunched group, at lower left, on the theater’s lower level. “Balcony’s” asymmetry and theme of isolation may have resonated with feelings of uncertainty during this era, reflecting confusion and loneliness in a place that represents collective enjoyment. If “All the world’s a stage,” as Shakespeare suggested, we never see the drama to which Anchel’s audience is reacting.

About the Artist

Anchel Harold Rosenberg was born in 1912 on the lower east side of Manhattan, New York City. He was artistic from a young age, creating many pieces for his mother as a teenager before attending the National Academy of Design, 1930-32. Anchel joined the innovative New Dance Group in 1932, founded by six Jewish women whose motto became “Dance is a Weapon of the Class Struggle.” He performed in pieces with titles like On the Barricade and Hunger. Anchel joined the WPA in 1937, forced to drop his last name and switch the others since only two family members could apply: thereafter, he was Harold Anchel. He joined as one of the youngest employees at the FAP’s Graphic Arts Division, developing a dramatically composed, high-contrast style for depicting ordinary people in works like “Cafeteria”, “City Playground” and “Summer Afternoon.” His background in dance made him especially sensitive to the power of physical gesture. Anchel also executed at least one work for the FAP’s Index of American Design, entitled “Hitching Post.”

In 1943, Anchel was drafted for the Second World War, assigned to paint insignias on buildings and planes. He was later relocated to Walterboro, SC where he utilized puppets to teach camouflage techniques. After WWII his style transformed from stark, black-and-white lithographs to abstract paintings. Anchel’s works were exhibited in the Miami Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art and the Riverside Museum in New York throughout the 1960’s. Anchel passed in 1980. 63 works at GSA Fine Arts Collection. 17 works at Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2 works at Smithsonian American Art Museum. 6 images at FAP.

Works Consulted:

“Also Anchel Abstracts: Neijna Sculpture Exhibit Opening” Miami Herald 8 Nov. 1959: 121. A special thank you to David Anchel for his website The Art of Harold Anchel.

Anchel, Harold (1912-1980)

Pasiak, Olivia (description and biography)

Helquist, Morgan (photography0

New Deal Museum, Mount Morris NY

Object #FA 271

Lithograph

Image: 11.5 x 9.75 in.
Framed: 21 x 17 in.