News from the Studio of Ben Solowey
Posted in exhibition, Theater Portraits on Mar 17th, 2019
When producer Max Gordon came to John D. Rockefeller about investing in a musical based on Johann Strauss’ relationship with his father, set to Strauss’s most popular melodies with new lyrics, and a book by Moss Hart, he had no idea that Rockefeller would not only say yes, but offer the brand new Center Theatre, […]
Posted in exhibition, Theater Portraits on Mar 17th, 2019
Charles “Chic” Sale was a vaudevillian whose specialty was playing “rural parts’ or what we would call country bumpkins. He was successful enough at it that the Shuberts put him in their annual Passing Show revues, and even Ziegfeld put him into one of his Midnight Frolics. He found fame in 1929 writing The Specialist, […]
Posted in archive, exhibition, Theater Portraits on Mar 17th, 2019
The Cole Porter musical Anything Goes cemented Ethel Merman’s status as a star. While she had made a hit in the Gershwin’s Girl Crazy three seasons before, Anything Goes, filled with a hit laden score that includes “I Get a Kick Out of You,” “You’re the Top,” “Blow, Gabriel, Blow,” and the title tune, showed […]
Posted in archive, exhibition, photo, Rae, Special event, Studio, Theater Portraits on Jan 13th, 2017
2017 marks two special anniversaries for The Studio of Ben Solowey. 75 years ago, Ben and Rae Solowey moved permanently to Bucks County. 25 years ago, we began to present regular interpretive exhibitions at the Solowey studio of Ben’s work, his contemporaries, and occasionally a contemporary artist. Our plan is to celebrate both anniversaries this […]
Posted in exhibition, Theater Portraits on Jan 25th, 2016
Immigrants continue to be in the news. While Central American immigrants are the focus of attention and sadly, scorn today, a century ago that attention and invective was aimed toward Jewish immigrants, primarily from Central Europe. Those that came to New York congregated on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and a remarkable culture blossomed […]
Posted in exhibition, Theater Portraits, Uncategorized on Sep 24th, 2015
Japonisme was the term used to describe the influence of Japanese art on fashion and aesthetics on Western culture. Like many artists of his generation, Ben was influenced by Japanese woodcuts and had several hanging in his home, and through the European interpretation of the woodcuts in the work of Impressionist artists such as Manet, […]
Posted in exhibition, Rae, Studio, Theater Portraits, Uncategorized on Aug 31st, 2015
I hope everyone has had a wonderful summer. The weather has cooperated, and here on the farm it has been as lush as ever. The response to my new book on Al Hirschfeld and its companion exhibition, as well as for my Grateful Dead exhibition in Chicago has been very gratifying. I am always delighted […]
Posted in exhibition, Studio, Theater Portraits, Uncategorized on Aug 26th, 2015
The influence of Gilbert and Sullivan can be seen and heard all around us. Musicians and lyricists alike were influenced by the duo, including songwriters and composers from Irving Berlin to Andrew Lloyd Weber. Gilbert’s lyrics set the stage for the American musical to be born, with songs directly referencing the plot and addressing both […]
Posted in exhibition, Rae, Studio, Theater Portraits on May 28th, 2015
We have some good news and some bad news about our next show at the Studio of Ben Solowey. Let me start with the bad news. For only the second time in 23 years, we will not be opening a new show at the Studio in June. Unfortunately my work as a curator for museums […]
Posted in archive, Theater Portraits on May 15th, 2015
Here is a page Ben Solowey’s address book when he lived in New York between 1928 and 1942, before moving permanently to Bucks County, Pennsylvania. This single page provides a glimpse into Ben’s world from that time. The first entry on the page, obviously “K” in his address book, is playwright George Kelly. Ben had […]
The Letter
News from the Studio of Ben Solowey
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