Leopold Matzal

Leopold Matzal, 20th Century Austrian-American Artist

Leopold Charles Matzal (August 13, 1890 – November 22, 1956) was a 20th-century Austrian-American visual artist. He was a realistic painter, known in New York City and northern New Jersey for his society portraiture and also, later in his career, for murals.[1]

Life

Matzal was born on August 13, 1890, in Vienna, Austria, the second of the four children of Carl and Eleanora Prögelhof Matzal. He studied at the Imperial and Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, 1909–1919.[2] At the Royal Academy, Matzal studied under Alois Delug and Rudolf Jettmar; he also travelled to Germany for studies under Wilhelm Trübner and Heinrich von Zügel.[3][4] Matzal's studies were interrupted by active duty with the Austro-Hungarian army during World War I.[5] In 1921 he emigrated to the United States.[6] Matzal's first wife died in 1924, and in August 1929 he married Elsa Grasme of Hoboken.[7] He taught at the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts in New Jersey, 1928–1956.[8][9] He was a member of the Salmagundi Club[10] and of the New York branch of the Schlaraffia, a German arts organization. After a long illness, Matzal died on November 22, 1956, at St. Mary's Hospital, Orange, NJ.[11]

Work

Matzal's portraits of State Supreme Court Justice James F. Minturn and State Chancery Court Vice-Chancellor John J. Fallon were both hung in the State House, Trenton, NJ.[12][13][14] His portrait of Hoboken Mayor Patrick R. Griffin was hung in the Hoboken City Hall.[15][16] Matzal also painted portraits of Newark Mayor Ralph A. Villani and New York City Mayor Jimmy Walker. During the period 1922–1929, nine different portraits by Matzal were selected for the exhibitions of the National Academy.[17][18][19] Matzal also painted landscapes and seascapes, in both oil and watercolor, especially of scenes in New England and the Catskill Mountains of New York. Matzal painted two murals under the auspices of the Federal Art Project (FAP), a branch of the Works Project Administration.[20] In 1937 he executed a mural at the Branch Brook School for Crippled Children. This mural depicted scenes from children's fairy tales.[21] Matzal completed a second FAP mural in 1939, this one at the Bergen Branch (later renamed the Miller Branch) of the Jersey City Free Public Library. This mural featured scenes from the writings of Washington Irving, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Mark Twain.[22] In 1949 Matzal painted murals depicting the four seasons for the Stacy-Trent Hotel in Trenton, NJ, and then in 1950 two large murals of English deer hunting scenes for the Roost Restaurant of Newark, NJ.[23][24]

Notable students

• Maurice Bilton[25]
• Leo Dee[26]
• Helen Frank
• William D. Gorman
• Mel Klapholz[27]
• Louis Konwiser
• Louis Legakis[28]
• Felix Nestele
• Warren Padovan[29]
• Michael Stoffa[30]
• Charles Waterhouse

References

1. Benezit Dictionary of Artists. Gründ. 2009. vol. 9, p. 576.
2. "Matzal Portraits Will Be Exhibited". Hudson Observer. November 13, 1922.
3. "Hoboken Artist's Work Pleases in Exhibit". Jersey Journal (Hoboken, NJ). January 15, 1924.
4. "Portraits of Hoboken People on Exhibition". Hudson Observer. April 20, 1923.
5. "Noted Painter to Demonstrate Here". South Orange Record. October 17, 1941.
6. "Leopold Charles Matzal, Portrait Painter". The New Jersey Club Woman. 3 (4): 6. January 1929.
7. "Matzals on Steamer for Their Honeymoon". Hudson Dispatch. August 29, 1929.
8. New Jersey History. New Jersey Historical Society. 1980. p. 147.
9. Merrill, Peter C. (1997). German Immigrant Artists in America: A Biographical Dictionary, Scarecrow Press. p. 174.
10. Benezit Dictionary of Artists. Gründ. 2009. vol. 9, p. 576.
11. "L. C. Matzal, Artist, Dies". Newark Evening News. November 23, 1956.
12. Falk, Peter Hastings, ed. (1999). Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975. Sound View Press. vol. II, p. 2220.
13. "Leopold Charles Matzal, Portrait Painter". The New Jersey Club Woman. 3 (4): 6. January 1929.
14. "Hoboken Artist's Work Pleases in Exhibit". Jersey Journal (Hoboken, NJ). January 15, 1924.
15. "Works of Prominent Hoboken Artist On Exhibition At Jersey City Library". Hudson Dispatch. January 15, 1924.
16. Falk, Peter Hastings, ed. (1999). Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975. Sound View Press. vol. II, p. 2220.
17. Falk, Peter Hastings, ed. (1990). The Annual Exhibition Record of the National Academy of Design, 1901–1950. Sound View Press. pp. 349–50. ISBN 9780932087096.
18. "Throngs Are Viewing Matzal Paintings". Hudson Observer. November 19, 1927. p. 5.
19. Cary, Elizabeth Luther (March 24, 1929). "Academy and Fogg Exhibitions". The New York Times: 12.
20. Federal Art Project, Photographic Division collection, circa 1920–1965, bulk 1935–1942. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, box 15, folder 29.
21. "WPA Art on View at State Museum". The New York Times. August 8, 1937.
22. "A Mural Takes Shape". The Newark Sunday Call. March 12, 1939.
23. "In Holiday Mood". The Trentonian. January 11, 1949.
24. "Artist At Work". The Star-Ledger. October 8, 1950.
25. Newark Public School of Fine and Industrial Art, Annual for the Year 1931.
26. Dearinger, David B. "Leo Dee (1931–2004)". Archived from the original on December 4, 2015. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
27. "Mel Klapholz: Education & Community". James A. Michener Art Museum. Archived from the original on February 12, 2015. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
28. Louis Legakis Retrieved January 23, 2015.
29. Montage: Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts, 1952 Yearbook.
30. "Oil Painting Demonstration At Local Bank". The Times (Scotch Plains-Fanwood, NJ ) Vol. 9, No. 1. January 4, 1968. p. 10.

External links

• Official website