Paul Arlt, cartoonist, 91
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By THE ASSOCIAED PRESS
(Original publication: September 23, 2005)
RYE, N.Y. (AP) - Painter and political cartoonist Paul T. Arlt, whose
work was exhibited at the National Air and Space Museum and galleries
nationwide, has died. He was 91.
The New York City native died Tuesday at his suburban New York home,
his daughter, Ronay Arlt Menschel, said today.
Arlt was a skilled watercolorist who often depicted Washington
landmarks and political life in the nation's capital, where he lived
for several decades.
His acclaimed satirical pen-and-ink drawings of political figures and
committee hearings on Capitol Hill included one with a pack of large
senators overshadowing a diminutive witness testifying before the
group.
"He was always interested in politics," said Menschel. "He had a good
sense of humor which was never cynical, but which showed an
understanding of people in politics."
Arlt's work was displayed in museums and galleries across the country,
including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of the City of New
York, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the National Gallery of Art, the
Phillips Memorial Gallery and the Art Institute of Chicago.
He graduated from Colgate University in 1933 and studied painting at
the Greenwich House, an art school in Greenwich Village.
He moved to Washington, continuing his studies at the Corcoran Gallery
of Art. In 1940, the U.S. Treasury Department commissioned him to paint
a mural at the post office in the small town of Enterprise, Ala.; it
now hangs in the Enterprise Public Library.
Arlt served in the Marine Corps during World War II as a combat artist
who accompanied troops to the front line in the Pacific theater,
recording the events in drawings and paintings. He received the Purple
Heart for a shrapnel injury.
In the 1950s he was an editorial cartoonist for the New York Herald
Tribune. He retired to devote more time to painting in Washington.
NASA commissioned him to do paintings and drawings at the Gemini space
launch at Cape Kennedy and various tracking stations nationwide. His
NASA art work is at the Kennedy Space Center and the National Air and
Space Museum.
He and his wife of 65 years, MacClaire, returned to New York in 2001 to
be near their daughter. In addition to them, Arlt is survived by three
grandchildren.