Painter Mitzi Melnicoff (left) and sculptor Natalie Charkow Hollander (right) were friends and colleagues of Larry Day at the former University of the Arts. When Woodmere organized the 2013 exhibition The Poker Game and Its Circle, one of the paintings on display was Day’s Group (in the collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts), which depicts a gathering of the artist’s friends in his studio. On an easel at the center is an unfinished rendering of this portrait. At the exhibition opening, the portrait was recognized by Claudia Raab—Hollander’s niece—who immediately retrieved it from her home in Mount Airy and brought it to Woodmere as a gift for the permanent collection.
Born in Philadelphia, where he spent most of his life, Day served in the Pacific campaign of World War II, after which he attended college on the GI Bill. He graduated from Temple University’s Tyler School of Art in 1949, also earning a degree in education there. He began his career as an instructor shortly thereafter, primarily as an anchor figure in the Painting department of the Philadelphia College of Art (later the University of the Arts) and the graduate school of the University of Pennsylvania. His work is in numerous museum collections, including the British Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Woodmere.
