Lot 155: ZERO MOSTEL

Self Portrait.

Oil on linen canvas. 1015x762 mm; 40x30 inches. Ex-collection ACA Galleries, New York, with the label on the frame back. 1/2-inch puncture, upper left.

Famous for his roles on Broadway in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and "Fiddler on the Roof" and in Mel Brook's film "The Producers," Mostel was also an accomplished painter. He was a WPA artist in the 1930s, and later part of a circle of artists who summered on Monhegan, Maine, and had winter studios around West 28th Street in New York. Several of his self portraits are in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC.