Delman, E. Ben (1898-1973)

Born Benzion Elias Delman in Jerusalem, Palestine, this NDG artist studied at the Bazelel Academy of Arts and Design and then in Paris before immigrating to New York in 1915. As of 1918 he was a staff artist for the Jewish Daily News. Delman became a citizen in 1923, and eventually moved to Chicago in 1942. His works were featured in exhibits sponsored by the National Academy of Design (1932), the New York City WPA—“Market Scenes” at the USDA in 1941, along with NDG artists Fred Adler and Herman Copen—and by the Art Institute of Chicago (1947). Delman is a study in perseverance: during the late 1940s he was working in the notions department at Mandel Brothers’ department store in Chicago, and did most of his painting (and etching) at night. His “Figure of an Old Man” at the gates of Jerusalem was shown at a 1949 exhibition sponsored by the store. The Mandels had “expected a few workers to turn up with stamp and shell collections and they were aware that a couple of salesmen liked to paint still lifes—but they weren’t prepared for the scores of employees who volunteered to exhibit” (Chicago Tribune 12 Jan. 1950: 26). 3 more images at FAP.

Works in the New Deal Collection at GVCA by Ben Delman:

Featured
California Fruit
California Fruit

A rectangular table is the platform for dried flowers and branches in an ornamental vase, a clear pedestal fruit bowl filled with pears, grapes and nectarines, as well as a small serving platter holding the same fruit. The vase and table are adorned with cool-colored shapes, without pattern. A blue fabric with pronounced brushstrokes is draped diagonally across the table from the wall behind it. A framed painting in the background juxtaposes the dried contents of the vase with a depiction of green tree leaves.

The Goldfish Globe
The Goldfish Globe

A woman, sitting on a backwards chair, observes a clear bowl with four swimming goldfish. A round table is the platform for the bowl; an empty, yellow-covered book; dried branches in a small vase; grapes; and a pear. An unknown light-source illuminates the woman, as sunlight simultaneously enters the room through a closed window in the middle ground. Similar apartment buildings occupy the background. Cool colors, warm colors, confinement behind glass and a blank expression are shared between the woman and the fish.

delmanGVCA