Mel Zabarsky

Melvin Joel Zabarsky (1932–2019) was an American figurative painter who created representational work in the narrative tradition. Known for a bright, bold palette, his work often explores political, historical and cultural themes to surreal and realist effect. In a six-decade career marked by several distinct phases, Zabarsky's imaginative use of color, formal experimentation and commitment to narrative organization in both traditional and avant garde styles are hallmarks of his work. In an interview with the British philosophers Donald and Monica Skilling, he said, "I'm discovering history, or a narrative, within a painting, as I go along."

That sensibility is in keeping with what Boston Globe critic Robert Taylor defined as "urban, Jewish, introverted and lyrical," which he credits to the artists championed by art dealer Boris Mirski, Boston's leading gallerist from 1944 to 1979, and his NYC counterpart, Edith Halpert of the Downtown Gallery. This group included Zabarsky, fellow artist and wife Joyce Reopel, Hyman Bloom, Barbara Swan, Jack Levine, Marianna Pineda, Harold Tovish and others, who helped overcome Boston's conservative distaste for the avant-garde, occasionally female, and often Jewish artists later classified as Boston expressionists. Unique to New England, the art movement had lasting national and local influence, and is now in its third generation.