[4] After his father died in February 1920,[3] his mother, whose family discouraged her from becoming an opera singer,[5] remarried to Sir Reginald Mitchell Banks, KC, and Member of Parliament for Swindon.

[1] Melcarth left Kentucky to pursue his personal interests and career, studied at Harvard University, the Chelsea College of Arts,[1] and Stanley William Hayter's Atelier 17 in Paris, a notable print studio where European modernists gathered and produced limited editions.

[14] The subject of his art included young, heterosexual, masculine men he had intimate relationships with who occupied jobs as blue-collar workers, sailors, hustlers, addicts, and trade positions.

[16] Melcarth and Painter also lived with the Kentucky-born artist Henry Faulkner in New York City for a short period of time following WWII.

"[7] The FBI files, which can be obtained through a Freedom of Information/Privacy Acts (FOIPA) request, detail information about his life and involvement with the Communist Party.

[7] As part of his support for worker's rights, in 1952, Melcarth shared his plans to ship canvases to various union headquarters around the United States and invite the members to pay him whatever they think his paintings are worth.

[29] In 1943, Melcarth rode a British ship called the Aguillion, along with some other American volunteers, in order and work on the construction of air strips for allied forces in Persia.

[30] During this time, in November 1943, Melcarth illustrated for Fortune (magazine) on the construction project to build a road from the Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea.

The Fortune commission is seen as an early boost to his career and provided one of the most lively reportage features in the magazine as it surveyed the War.

Baroque fountains with nude statues of Poseidon (with a mermaid) and Aphrodite (with a merman) similarly mediate the vistas opposite the grand staircase, where couples are viewed through illusionistic Corinthian columns.

[17] The mural included mythological characters alongside prominent members of New York's elite like Jacqueline Kennedy and Erik Estrada.

[15] Today, Melcarth's work is held in notable collections and he is receiving a resurgence as the subject of recent critical writing and analysis.

[15] In 2019, The Forbes Collection donated over 100 of Melcarth's works to the Faulkner Morgan Archive–a nonprofit organization that focuses on sharing Kentucky's LGBTQ+ history.

[2][45] In 2021, Aaron Lecklider published Love's Next Meeting: The Forgotten History of Homosexuality and the Left in American Culture which features Melcarth's Last Supper (ca.