Presser
was manic-depressive and the inherent symptoms of a cycle, ranging
from an extreme high to the crash of depression, enhanced the richness,
depth and variety of his work while he suffered through the stages.
"Carousel”
casein c. 1956
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Presser
and his sketchpads would be found in Union and Washington
Squares but more often, near the waterfront, Fulton Street,
the Battery, South Street and the Bowery, not painting the
elegant passenger ships but the longshoremen and the down-and-out
claimed by the Great Depression.
“There
is no doubt Presser shared the desperation of many of
his colleagues and contemporaries about the devastating
results of the depression that made misery a commonplace
experience in America. His later works… prove
he did not lose his sensibility and compassion when
times were getting better. He still had an eye for the
back streets of the American dream and their inhabitants.”
~ Frank Balters, art historian, Cologne |
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