Ludwig Mactarian (1908–1955; sometimes spelled 'MacTarian' or 'Mkitarian') was an American painter, muralist, and illustrator.

Early life

Ludwig Mactarian was born on January 1, 1908;website www.locategrave.org/l/4527016/Ludwig-Mactarian-NY retvd11 27 12 there is some confusion as to where. US Army induction records list his birthplace as 'French Asiatic Possessions',website files.usgwarchives.net/ny/newyork/military/ww2/enlistment retvd11 27 12 which may indicate Syria, which is stated as his birthplace in immigration records.website - Ancestry.com; New York, Naturalization Records, 1882-1944, Ludwig Mactarian. retvd 3 23 14 Other sources name Smyrna, Anatolia, in the Ottoman Empire (modern Izmir, Turkey). He was an ethnic Armenian. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1921, arriving in New York City.

Education

Surrounded by New York's emerging modern art scene, Mactarian studied painting at the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...

and learned printmaking and lithography at the

Art Students League The Art Students League of New York is an art school at American Fine Arts Society, 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists ...

. His teachers included William Von Schlegell, Charles Locke, and George Picken.website uca.edu/art/postofficemurals/po_murals_dardanelle.php retvd 3 23 14

Career

In the 1920s and 30s Mactarian painted, made prints, and provided illustrations for periodicals and books, such as John Pfeiffer's popular ''Science in your Life''. Like many artists during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

he did commissioned works as part of the Federal government's

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...

programs for the arts. In 1937 he assisted George Picken in creating the

Hudson Falls, New York Hudson Falls (formerly Sandy Hill) is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village located in Washington County, New York, United States. The village is in the southwest of the Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town of Kingsbur ...

Post Office murals, and Reginald Marsh in creating murals for the New York Customs House. In 1939 he painted ''Cotton Growing, Manufacture, and Export'', a striking (and still-extant) mural at the US Post Office in Dardanelle, Arkansas, for which he was paid $660 by the Treasury Department's

Section of Fine Arts The Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture was a New Deal art project established on October 16, 1934, and administered by the Procurement Division of the United States Department of the Treasury. Commonly known as the Section, it was rena ...

. Unable to afford travel to Dardanelle prior to installation, he researched ideas for the mural by studying the region at the New York Public Library, and by telephone conversations with Dardanelle's postmaster.

World War II

Early in 1941, with the Second World War erupting in Europe and Asia, Mactarian joined the United States Army. During training at

Fort Dix Fort Dix, the common name for the Army Support Activity (ASA) located at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, is a United States Army post. It is located south-southeast of Trenton, New Jersey. Fort Dix is under the jurisdiction of the Air Force A ...

, New Jersey, he was exposed to

scarlet fever Scarlet fever, also known as Scarlatina, is an infectious disease caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'' a Group A streptococcus (GAS). The infection is a type of Group A streptococcal infection (Group A strep). It most commonly affects childr ...

and placed in an isolation camp. While in quarantine he learned of a $12,000 prize for a contest to paint a 12-by-50-foot mural in the new War Department Building in Washington, D.C.; company officers, impressed with his sketches, provided him with materials and a private workroom in the Men’s Service Club. Mactarian didn't win the competition, but his work caught the attention of the War Art Advisory Committee, and he was assigned duty as a war artist.'Artist Ludwig Mactarian conveyed the grit of a combat engineer’s life', Gregory Bartolett, ''Washington Post'', 1/26/14 He served with the 337th Engineer General Service Regiment, part of the

US Fifth Army The United States Army North (ARNORTH) is a formation of the United States Army. An Army Service Component Command (ASCC) subordinate to United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM), ARNORTH is the joint force land component of NORTHCOM.

, in the Italian Campaign, reaching the rank of TEC3 (Sergeant). A series of paintings made in Italy in 1944/45 attracted considerable attention. Unlike many war artists, who depicted what they saw in a plain, illustrative style, Mactarian applied a Contemporary Realist approach to his paintings and drawings which at times bordered on Surrealism as they portrayed both the large-scale physical destruction of war and, particular to the Engineers, the striking incongruity of large geometric structures (such as pre-fabricated

Bailey bridges A Bailey bridge is a type of portable, pre-fabricated, truss bridge. It was developed in 1940–1941 by the British for military use during the Second World War and saw extensive use by British, Canadian and American military engineering units. ...

, concrete bunkers, or gas pipelines) imposed on Italy's ancient landscapes.

Later years

Mactarian exhibited at a number of museums and galleries around the US, including the Los Angeles Museum, the

Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art was an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Overview The Corcoran School of the Arts & Design ...

Pennsylvania Academy The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Long Island National Cemetery Long Island National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in Suffolk County, New York. It is surrounded by a group of other separate cemeteries and memorial parks situated along Wellwood Avenue (County Road 3) – these include Pi ...

in Farmingdale, New York.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mactarian, Ludwig 1908 births 1955 deaths 20th-century American painters American male painters American illustrators American muralists National Academy of Design alumni Armenian painters American people of Armenian descent Section of Painting and Sculpture artists Burials at Long Island National Cemetery American war artists Art Students League of New York alumni Federal Art Project artists Treasury Relief Art Project artists 20th-century American male artists