Color monotype on Japan paper, circa 1930. 575x437 mm; 22 1/2x17 1/8 inches. Signed in crayon, lower right. A very good impression with strong colors.
Melzer (1877-1966), born in Bohemia, was a member of the Berlin Secession which was founded in 1891 and counted Edvard Munch, Max Beckman, Kathe Kollwitz and Erich Heckel among the membership. Melzer rejected the status quo of government endorsed art rooted in academic tradition. During his career, Melzer helped to found two offshoots of the original Berlin Secession movement, the New Secession and the November Group. Due to his expressionistic style and radicalized views, Melzer's art was labeled Entartete Kunst, or "degenerate art" by the Nazi Party and was banned from museums in the late 1930s.
