Unvarnished oil on board, not signed but artist’s name inscribed on back along with a possible date of 1987, work purportedly was passed through his family, framed - 26 1/4” x 32 1/2”.
 
Note that this painting appears to be unfinished, specifically the body and hands of the subject and some of the art pieces reflected in the background. Perhaps this was a work in progress that the artist never completed, or, perhaps the artist intended the work to be finished as incomplete leaving the viewer to wonder? After all, Glanzman’s credence was, “At the heart of every painting is a story.” 

Louis “Lew” Glanzman (VA/NY, 1922-2013) was an artist, illustrator and a Golden Age comics artist (his brother, Sam Glanzman, was also a notable comic artist). Born in Virginia, Glanzman began work in comic books at the age of 16. His most memorable works in comics was a series of stories and covers he did for Amazing Man Comics at Centaur. He credited his time as a comic artist as his art training, along with his studies at the School of Industrial Arts in New York (though he admits he played a lot hooky so he could attend burlesque shows on 42nd Street). During WW2, Glanzman was a mechanic for the Army Air Corps as well as an illustrator of the military’s Aero Time magazine.  After the war he found employment as an illustrator of children’s books (his most notable work being illustrations of the Pippi Longstockings books) and painting covers for books, such as Louis L’Amour novels, and periodicals. Throughout his career Glanzman created art for Saturday Evening Post, Boy’s Life, Readers Digest, Colliers, The New Yorker, National Geographic, Time, and even National Lampoon. He spent a large part of his latter years creating historical, religious and fantasy art. 

Glanzman received awards and accolades from the Society of Illustrators, Art Directors Club, Salmagundi Club, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and the National Geographic Society. His work can also be found in the collections of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.