Oil on canvas, signed and dated 1981 lower right. Colorful geometric composition of circles and rectangles.About the Artist: St. Louis is permeated by the work of Brother Mel Meyer. His sculptural work can be recognized in the city and as far as Forest Park, as well as an assortment of local hospitals, office buildings and chapels; throughout the campus of St. Louis University, and a body of work that continues to circulate between St. Louisan art collectors today. According to the South County Times, 2013: " 'Brother Mel' was a member of the Marianists, a Catholic religious order, since 1948 and a full-time artist since 1958. For 45 years he produced an impressive body of work out of his Marianist Galleries, located on the St. John Vianney High School campus in Kirkwood.One of Brother Mel's favorite pieces, a limestone sculpture of St. John Vianney, hangs on the west side of the school. Locally, his most familiar works include large, often colorful, abstract metal sculptures. Kirkwood is home to several of those pieces, including "Three Stacked Chairs" near Kirkwood Farmers' Market.Brother Mel, after joining the Marianists in 1947, completed his Bachelor's of Arts degree at the University of Dayton. He earned a Master's of Arts degree from the University of Notre Dame-Indiana and learned tips from several esteemed artists while in graduate school and on a whirlwind European tour in the late 1950s.Visiting Marianist communities and seeking out different artworks via scooter (he logged 14,000 miles in a year), Brother Mel told the Webster-Kirkwood Times in 2008, on the occasion of his 80th birthday, that he picked up the European process of using materials to their utmost.'Whether employing paint, concrete, glass, tapestries or just junk in their works, they knew how to make them speak -- speak of God,' he said. 'Everything I do is religious, because of the inspiration behind it and the way it impacts people.'Brother Mel said he estimates he created 10,000 works of art in his lifetime. He expressed himself in metal sculpture, watercolors, frescoes, stained glass and acrylic on canvas paintings.According to information from the Marianists, Brother Mel worked up until the time of his death. For more than 40 years he worked year round, six days a week. The price of his works ranged from around $150 to into the six figures."Brother Mel's artwork, like his life, skillfully combines the contemplative insight of the monk with a vibrant embrace of the modern world in all its ambiguities and complexities," said Brother Stephen Glodek, provincial of the Marianist Province of the U.S., in a June 2008 Times article. Stretcher: 45.25" square; frame: 46" square