Raphael Soyer

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Raphael Soyer
Born
Raphael Schoar

December 25, 1899
Social Realism
SpouseRebecca Letz
Children1
Family (brother)
Raphael Soyer, Portrait of a Man, ca. 1930

Raphael Zalman Soyer

Social Realist because of his interest in men and women viewed in contemporary settings which included the streets, subways, salons and artists' studios of New York City
. He also wrote several books on his life and art.

His brothers Moses Soyer and Isaac Soyer were also painters.[2]

Early life and education

He was born as Raphael Schoar. He and his identical twin brother,

Hebrew scholar, writer and teacher,[5] raised his six children in an intellectual environment in which much emphasis was placed on academic and artistic pursuits. Their mother, Bella, was an embroiderer.[6] Their cousin was painter and meteorologist, Joshua Zalman Holland.[7] Due to the many difficulties for the Jewish population in the late Russian Empire, the Soyer family was forced to emigrate in 1912 to the United States, where they ultimately settled in the Bronx.[3][8] The family name changed from Schoar to Soyer during immigration.[4]

Raphael pursued his art education at the free schools of the Cooper Union between 1914 and 1917, studying alongside his twin Moses.[1][9] It was at Cooper Union where he met Chaim Gross, who became a lifelong friend from that time.

He continued his studies at the

Ashcan school.[1]

Career

After his formal education ended, Soyer became associated with the Fourteenth Street School of painters that included

representational art and strongly opposed the dominant force of abstract art
during the late 1940s and early 1950s.

After his time in art school, Soyer did not immediately begin working as a professional artist, and instead painted during his free time while working other jobs.

.

Soyer's teaching career began at the

New School for Social Research
and the National Academy.

He was an artist of the Great Depression, and during the 1930s, Raphael and his brother Moses engaged in Social Realism, demonstrating empathy with the struggles of the working class.[13] In 1939, the twins worked together with the Works Project Administration, Federal Art Project (WPA-FAP) mural at the Kingsessing Station post office in Philadelphia.[9][14]

Soyer deeply admired fellow American artist Thomas Eakins, and produced a group portrait entitled Homage to Thomas Eakins, which was based on Fantin-Latour's Hommage à Delacroix.[15]

Among Soyer's portrait subjects were artists and writers who were his friends; these included

Whitney Museum of American Art exhibited a retrospective of his work.[3]

Soyer was hired in 1940, along with eight other prominent American artists, to document dramatic scenes and characters during the production of the film The Long Voyage Home, a cinematic adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's plays.[16] He also illustrated two books for Isaac Bashevis Singer, entitled A Little Boy in Search of God and Love and Exile.[17]

Awards and honors

Death and legacy

Soyer died from cancer at the age of 87 in his home in New York City on November 4, 1987.[19][18] He is buried at Acacia Cemetery in Queens, New York.

His work is included in many public museum collections including the

Whitney Museum of American Art,[18] Hirshhorn Museum,[18] among others.[1]

Art collector Victor Ganz started collecting art in his teenage years with the purchases of watercolors by Louis Eilshemius and Jules Pascin, and an oil painting by Raphael Soyer.

Personal life

On February 8, 1931, Soyer married Rebecca Letz, who was friends with his sister Fanny.[21] Together they had one daughter.

He was a close friend of Arshile Gorky and his wife Agnes, whom he painted while pregnant (fully clothed).

Publications

In 1953, Soyer co-founded the magazine Reality: A Journal of Artists' Opinions, published by figurative artists as a response to the prevailing influence of non-objective art.[22][23]

By Soyer

Soyer wrote and illustrated the following books:[24]

  • Soyer, Raphael (1962). A Painter's Pilgrimage: An Account of a Journey with Drawings by the Author, Crown. Crown Publisher.
    OCLC 3264065
    .
  • Soyer, Raphael (1966). Homage to Thomas Eakins, etc. Thomas Yoseloff.
    OCLC 996127
    .
  • Soyer, Raphael (1969). Self-Revealment: a Memoir. Maecenas Press; Random House.
    OCLC 15241335
    .
  • Soyer, Raphael (1977). Diary of an Artist. New Republic Books. .

About Soyer

References

  1. ^ .
  2. ^ "Soyer. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-05". Archived from the original on 2007-02-03. Retrieved 2007-04-26. The Columbia Encyclopedia (2001-5). Retrieved on 2007-07-11.
  3. ^ a b c "A Finding Aid to the Raphael Soyer papers, 1933-1989 | Digitized Collection". Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  4. ^ a b "Raphael Soyer, American, born Russia, 1899 - 1987, Schoar, Raphael". The National Gallery of Art (NGA). Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  5. .
  6. ^ Berman, Avis (December 1979). "Raphael Soyer at 80: 'Not painting would be like not breathing': Smithsonian American Art/Portrait Gallery Library". ARTnews.
  7. ISSN 0190-8286
    . Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  8. . Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  9. ^ .
  10. ^ Goodrich, Lloyd (1967). Raphael Soyer. New York: The Whitney Museum of American Art. p. 17.
  11. ^ Goodrich, Lloyd (1967). Raphael Soyer. New York: The Whitney Museum of American Art. p. 7.
  12. ^ "Work by Raphael Soyer to be Shown at Forum Gallery Concurrently with Whitney Museum Retrospective Exhibition". Forum Gallery Press Release. 1967.
  13. ^ Steiner, Raymond J. (January–February 2000). "Moses and Raphael Soyer at the ACA Galleries". Art Times.
  14. ^ Worden, Amy (April 27, 2009). "Push for Public Access to New Deal murals". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
  15. ^ Goodrich, Lloyd (1967). Raphael Soyer. New York: The Whitney Museum of American Art. p. 25.
  16. ^ "Cover Article, American Artist Magazine, September, 1940, pp. 4-14"
  17. ^ "artist Soyer dies at 87". Jewish World. November 12, 1987.
  18. ^ a b c d e f "Raphael Soyer; Social Realist Artist, Age 87". Newspapers.com. Los Angeles Times. November 5, 1987. p. 91. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  19. ^ "Raphael Soyer; leading realistic painter". Newspapers.com. Hartford Courant, Associated Press. 6 November 1987. p. 64. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  20. ^ a b c Rinkler, Harry (10 May 2002). "Raphael Soyer Painted His Adopted NYC". Newspapers.com. Lancaster New Era. p. 7. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  21. .
  22. ^ Guide to the Raphael Soyer Papers, 1949-1954 Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved July 12, 2007.
  23. ^ Schwarze, Richard F. (12 February 1983). "Raphael Soyer". Newspapers.com. The Journal Herald. p. 27. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  24. ^ Jewish Virtual Library Retrieved July 12, 2007.

External links