Geller produced paintings, woodcuts, woodcarvings, and etchings. His work focused on
Jewish tradition, often including moralistic themes and social commentary,
shtetl, ghetto life, and the intersection of Jewish tradition with modern-day Chicago. He regarded art as a tool for social reform and he spent a large part of his career teaching art. Over the course of his career he illustrated more than 40 books. and taught at
Hull House. Many prominent Chicago artists studied drawing and painting under Geller.
The L. M. Shteyn Farlag In 1926, Geller formed what would become a lengthy working relationship with Chicago publisher and cultural activist L. M. Shteyn (a pseudonym for Yitshak Leyb Fradkin, anglicized as L.M. Stein in his English language correspondence).), included Geller as one of the "many well known artists" to have their works listed in an art exhibit catalogue. Geller was one of the founding members of "Around the Palette" in Chicago in 1926, a club where artists shared their personal views of art and its role in society. The club became the "American Jewish Art Club", in 1940 and subsequently the "American Jewish Artists Club" in the early 1990s. Other founding members included
Emil Armin, David Bekker,
Aaron Bohrod, Fritzi Brod, Samuel Greenburg,
William S. Schwartz, Maurice Yochim and Louise Dunn Yochim. In 1931, Geller provided illustrations for Rose G Lurie's book,
The Great March: Post Biblical Jewish Stories, a selection of Jewish stories for children covering the period from the destruction of the
First Temple to the
expulsion from Spain. The book was published by the
Union of American Hebrew Congregations and was intended to cultivate "a love for Jewish heroes, for the Jewish people, and for Jewish idealism." In 1932, Geller participated in the
Grant Park Art Fair Geller regarded art as a tool for social reform. In the summer of 1936, the
Chicago Society of Artists published their first annual block-print calendar called
The Artist Calendar – 1937 that featured woodcuts by 30 Chicago artists, including Geller. The calendar project was intended to raise funds for the society activities and expose Chicago artists to a wider audience.) to support the
Jewish Autonomous Oblast. Geller's contribution to the portfolio was a woodcut based on
Raisins and Almonds, the Yiddish lullaby written by
Abraham Goldfaden in 1880 for his operetta
Shulamis. In May 1938, the Osage Tribal Museum in
Pawhuska, Oklahoma, opened to the public. It was the first tribally owned museum in the United States, Geller, who had spent time in the Southwest studying and painting Native American Indians, supervised the art project and painted around twelve of the portraits. Geller's paintings are displayed at the museum. Geller provided illustrations for some of the
Nebraska Folklore pamphlets, written and compiled by Nebraska's Writers' Project between 1937 and 1940. The pamphlets were produced as part of the "Folklore Project", a WPA
Federal Writers’ Project (FWP) supported effort to document the life histories of people from different backgrounds and geographic regions. The WPA supported
South Side Community Art Center opened in 1940 providing free art lessons for the community. Geller was a member of the interracial faculty of art instructors that included local black artists such as Charles Davis,
Charles White, Bernard Goss, William Carter and local white artists such as
Morris Topchevsky, Si Gordon and Max Kahn. Geller became the first president of the American Jewish Arts Club following its formation in Chicago in 1940. In 1942, Geller provided woodcut-illustrations for Jewish dancing master
Nathan Vizonsky's book
Ten Jewish Folk Dances: A Manual for Teachers and Leaders published by the American-Hebrew Theatrical League in Chicago. The book, possibly the first English-language book to document the dances characteristic of the Jews of Eastern Europe, contains explanations of the purpose of various dances including folkloric information, step-by-step dance descriptions, detailed notes on the costumes to be used and music scores arranged by
Max Janowski. ==Awards==