Bibel, Leon (American, born Poland,1912-1995) "COMPOSITION" - PICKETS. Oil on canvas, 1938. 20 x 16 inches (canvas), framed to 23 3/4 x 18 3/4 inches.. Signed and dated lower left, and titled "Composition" in pencil, verso, along with the name "P L Bibel" and a Kingsbridge Road address in the Bronx, all in pencil, and likely in the artist's hand. Provenance: Estate of the artist. In excellent condition. This painting was exhibited in a 2013 show titled "Leon Bibel - Art and Activism in the WPA." a short film in which this work, and a related image appear can be seen on YouTube.The image, almost abstract depicts a line of strikers or demonstrators picketing with signs. Bibel's family emigrated from Poland to San Francisco in 1926, He studied art there, and moved to New York in 1936. When he joined the WPA he didn't meet its residency requirements, so he used his brother Philip's name and address. There are many known works of his signed P L Bibel. In 1941, Bibel stopped making art and became a chicken farmer. It was twenty years before he resumed his career.
