The Life and Artistic Journey of Ludwig Mactarian
Ludwig Mactarian was an American painter, muralist, and illustrator. Born in 1908, his early life involved a journey to the United States, arriving in New York City in 1921. He pursued his artistic education at the National Academy of Design, where he studied painting, and at the Art Students League, where he focused on printmaking and lithography. His formal training was guided by instructors such as William Von Schlegell, Charles Locke, and George Picken.
During the 1920s and 1930s, Mactarian’s professional output included making prints and providing illustrations for books and periodicals, such as Science in your Life. As part of the New Deal programs for the arts during the Great Depression, he contributed to several commissioned works. This included assisting George Picken with murals for the Hudson Falls, New York Post Office and assisting Reginald Marsh with murals for the New York Customs House. In 1939, he completed the mural Cotton Growing, Manufacture and Export for the US Post Office in Dardanelle, Arkansas.
War Service and Later Career
In 1941, Mactarian joined the United States Army. While in quarantine at Fort Dix, New Jersey, he was assigned duty as a war artist after his sketches caught the attention of the War Art Advisory Committee. Serving with the 337th Engineer General Service Regiment as part of the US Fifth Army, he participated in the Italian Campaign. His paintings and drawings created in Italy during 1944 and 1945 utilized a Contemporary Realist approach, often depicting the incongruity of large geometric structures, such as gas pipelines or Bailey bridges, against ancient landscapes.
In his later years, Mactarian exhibited his work at various institutions, including:
He passed away in 1955 and is buried at the Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York.
