Brush drawing & wash, 24 x 18 (with mat)
Bather #2
Aug 24th, 2012 by David Leopold
Rae – Profile
Jul 30th, 2012 by David Leopold
Pastel on paper, 30 x 25 in, 1968
This is the last formal portrait of Rae. she is wearing the same dress from the well known 1935 portrait at the james Michener Art Museum.
We hope you enjoy your gift!
May 15th, 2012 by David Leopold
By now, those of you on our invitation list should have received your mailing for our new show. We hope you enjoy the gift of the two Solowey cards in the mailing. It is our way of saying thank you for the first twenty years. You made Rae Solowey’s dream come true.
A Drawing Lesson from Ben Solowey
May 12th, 2012 by David Leopold
Walter Huston as Othello by Ben Solowey, 1937
Artist Simon Mauer tells of his unique Ben Solowey experience:
My wife Susan and I have had many pleasant and enriching visits to the studio of Ben Solowey, and as artists we particularly appreciate Ben’s skill in so many media. His work always has genuine beauty and often a poetic quality which charms the beholder. I am always attracted particularly to his charcoal drawings of which he was a master. I have often thought as I looked transfixed at them “if only I could go back in time and get a lesson from Ben; what knowledge I could gain!â€
One day at a recent visit to the Studio it occurred to me: why not ask if I could copy one of Ben Solowey’s charcoal drawings, surely there would be something to learn there! After all, copying has been a common means of learning from past-masters for centuries. David invited me in and I was, as always upon entering the studio, somehow changed, as if in a hallowed place; the smell of the old linen canvases and oil paints beguiling me, putting me in a state of mind receptive to aesthetic experience. After swinging my gaze around the room trying to mentally absorb the whole scene, appreciate all the beauty of the paintings and sculptures, the furniture and other artist’s accoutrements, I looked at a few of the charcoal drawings and in short order found one that was particularly striking; a dramatic likeness of Walter Huston in the role of Othello. This was irresistible. I set up an easel and my drawing board. Continue Reading »
New Show this June
May 2nd, 2012 by David Leopold
The Studio of Ben Solowey announces a new exhibition, TWENTY YEARS SO FAR: A 20th Anniversary Celebration of Exhibitions at the Studio of Ben Solowey, featuring the “greatest hits†selected from thirty-six popular shows presented by The Studio of Ben Solowey. “We often hear from people who have only recently discovered the Solowey Studio, that they wish they could see some earlier exhibition we presented,†says David Leopold, Director of the Solowey Studio. “With all of these wonderful works on view, there has never been a better time to visit the Studio.†TWENTY YEARS SO FAR: A 20th Anniversary Celebration of Exhibitions at the Studio of Ben Solowey will open to the public on Saturday June 1st at the Solowey Studio in Bedminster, PA with a reception from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The exhibit will continue Saturdays and Sundays, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., through June 17th and then by appointment through August.
TWENTY YEARS SO FAR: A 20th Anniversary Celebration of Exhibitions at the Studio of Ben Solowey features the wide range of media that Ben Solowey mastered over his sixty year career including oil paintings, watercolors, drawings, etchings, and sculpture. Previous exhibitions organized by the Solowey Studio have explored Solowey’s international travels in 1924, his subsequent years in New York where he achieved substantial acclaim for his easel work and his charcoal theater portraits commissioned by the top newspapers, and his four decades in Bucks County. The Studio has also presented exhibitions devoted to his interest in modernism, fantasy, drawing, portraits, and the human figure. Continue Reading »
From today’s Philadelphia Inquirer
Jun 11th, 2010 by David Leopold
Durham. Oil on canvas. 8 x 10 in., 2009 Paul DuSold.
The most striking feature of “Eye to Eye: Paintings and Drawings by Paul DuSold & Ben Solowey” is that in it, the Studio of Ben Solowey has found an especially effective way of reusing the past, maintaining continuity, and embracing the new. In that regard, the show is a classic.
The aura of the 34-acre Solowey farm, setting for the exhibition, is of course very welcoming, and paintings by Solowey, who died in 1978, fill one room of the studio. They were selected not by a curator but by painter Paul DuSold – an important distinction – whose own oil paintings fill the next room.
The “fit” of this young Chestnut Hill artist in the wonderfully bucolic setting is strikingly appropriate. The works most personally significant to DuSold are still lifes, also a Solowey passion. DuSold has a strong old-master touch but occasionally offers subtle clues, like a crumpled paper napkin, that his painting was done today, not centuries ago. Details matter to both – the only flowers Solowey painted in his still lifes were those he grew himself. (A glance at his still-well-tended garden bears this out.)
DuSold, who doesn’t do landscapes, included some of Solowey’s in the show. But both have painted the human figure and portraits, and on June 19 at 2:30, DuSold will give a portrait-painting demonstration in this studio, the first artist to do so since 1978. The public is invited. The eyes have it.
Victoria Donohoe, Art Critic
A Look Into Paul DuSold’s Studio May 2010
Jun 11th, 2010 by David Leopold
Some Scenes From Outside the Studio
Jun 9th, 2010 by David Leopold
Bucks County Taste
Jun 8th, 2010 by David Leopold
There’s a wonderful blog about food in Bucks County, Bucks County Taste, that is the go-to place to find out what’s happening with anything edible in our area. Whether it be a fire house pancake breakfast, a lobsterfest, community day, a CSA, or a farmers’ market, Bucks County Taste not only tells you about it, but often introduces you to the folks who make and/or grow all the food. In a period where traditional news sources provide less and less local information, this site more than fills the void, and often with news that help fill the stomach.
They recently profiled our openings as a good place to enjoy good home baked goods and beautiful art. What can we say, they have good taste!
William A. Smith Exhibition in California
Jun 7th, 2010 by David Leopold
For our friends and family in California, Dominican University of California will host an exhibition of drawings and memorabilia by William A. Smith, curated by his daughter, Kim Smith, and produced during his time as an OSS operative in WWII China. The exhibition, free to the public, includes a few of Smith’s propaganda illustrations which were created to demoralize Japanese soldiers, but most of the show is devoted to the beautiful, sympathetic drawings and paintings of the people and places he encountered during his tour of duty. The exhibition, held in cooperation with the School of Natural Health and Sciences, will be on display in the Science Building at Dominican University, 50 Acacia Avenue, in San Rafael. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., from June 7 to December 18, 2010.
We had the pleasure of putting together a show of Bill’s work here in 1996, and his work is fine art filled with empathy and a real sense of storytelling. If you are in the San Rafael area sometime between now and December, we encourage you to check out this show.
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