News from the Studio of Ben Solowey
Posted in exhibition, Theater Portraits on Oct 8th, 2025
Philip Barry’s play, The Philadelphia Story debuted on Broadway on March 28, 1939. Barry had written the romantic comedy specifically for Katharine Hepburn, and she was so eager to rid of herself of the stench of “box office poison” after her last few films had failed, that she became an unbilled producer of the play […]
Posted in exhibition, Theater Portraits on Sep 25th, 2025
Bringing Al Hirschfeld’s art to the Solowey Studio is very special to me. As many of you know, I spent thirteen years visiting Hirschfeld in his studio at least once a week to organize the archive of his career. We became quite close. I organized the first museum retrospective of his artwork, as well as […]
Posted in exhibition, still life on Jun 10th, 2025
The Reiskin Collection has three interesting still lifes that highlight different periods in Ben’s career. The first is an Old Master Still Life that dates from 1925-28. This is an example of the decorative paintings Ben produced after returning from Europe in late 1924 to support himself. For more on Ben’s decorative painting check out […]
Posted in exhibition, prints, Studio on Jun 4th, 2025
In a letter to her friend, writer Helen Papashvilly, Rae recalled Ben’s introduction to etching. “The last time we visited Canada Lake, New York, in the Adirondacks [in 1974], one of the homes of our late friend, Paul Bransom, a great animal illustrator, and while retired many years, Paul retained his etching press in his […]
Posted in exhibition, sculpture on May 28th, 2025
Ben began experimenting with sculpture in the early 1940s. His first work was a bust of Rae made from white clay. His next pieces were small works of the human figure. He made the clay models in his studio and then had them cast in plaster using animal gelatin molds created by Philadelphia craftsman, Pietro […]
Posted in exhibition on May 7th, 2025
After Ben Solowey died in 1978, Allan and Joan Reiskin stopped to visit Rae on the farm when they came from Connecticut to visit Joan’s mother in the Philadelphia area. At that time, everyone entered the studio through Ben’s workshop, and when they entered the shop, Rae wiped her feet on what looked to be […]
Posted in Europe 1924, exhibition on Sep 22nd, 2024
Ben’s five months in Europe ended with a trip to Switzerland to paint in Engelberg and Lucerne. Ben was able to take this trip to “the top of the world,” as a friend wrote on the back of a photo of Ben in the Swiss mountains, because he had received notification from the United […]
Posted in archive, Europe 1924, exhibition on Aug 18th, 2024
Even as a young man, Ben Solowey was practical. He came to Europe to study and learn, as well as to travel with friends, but he understood that it was crucial for him to use the time to help himself when he returned home. When Ben received permission to paint at the Louvre, his goal […]
Posted in archive, Europe 1924, exhibition, Theater Portraits on Aug 14th, 2024
Even though Ben Solowey spent the summer in Paris in 1924, he retained his work ethic. When he was not painting plein air around the city, he took croquis classes at the Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs (now known as the Musée des Arts Décoratifs) at 107 rue de Rivoli in the Marsan wing of […]
Posted in Europe 1924, exhibition on Jun 28th, 2024
After a ten day ocean voyage, Ben Solowey landed in London on June 22, 1924. Ten years earlier he had left the continent as a 14-year-old teenager with his family who were escaping pogroms and forced conscription in St Peterburg, Russia. He knew no English, nor was his education up to American standards. The family […]
The Letter
News from the Studio of Ben Solowey
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