Nationality American Name David Margolis | Role Artist Known for Painting, Mural | |
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Born 1911 ( 1911 ) Notable work Materials of Relaxation Awards Special Recognition Award for WPA murals, Public Design Commission of the City of New York Died July 17, 2005, New York City, New York, United States Books The Written Word in Sculpture: Twenty-seven Monumental Works : February 10 Through March 24, 1985, Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, Kansas | ||
David Margolis (died October 8, 2003) was an American artist known for his WPA murals in New York City.
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Career
Margolis is best known for his fresco mural in the entrance rotunda of Bellevue Hospital Center. He worked with two other painters, earning $26.50 per week.
"I was painting in a place of distress. All around me, it was like it is today. So many people, so much drama. Life, death. Crying, screaming and also laughing. And in the middle I was painting murals that told the story of human progress. Nature. Agriculture. Industry. And the central panels by the doorway representing Construction, Destruction and Reconstruction. Remember, it was the Depression."
Margolis enjoyed evenings at the Savoy Ballroom with abstract expressionist Willem de Kooning, and helped Diego Rivera install his murals at Rockefeller Center. He was a member of the Brooklyn Society of Artists and the Federal Art Project. In 1995, Margolis received a Design Award from the Public Design Commission of New York City for his murals painted for the WPA.
Family
His brother was Boris Margo. He married Ruth Margolis. In 2000, he protested the demolition of the Poe house by New York University.