Study for Bathers
Oil and pencil on canvas.

Ben Solowey drew on the classical tradition of representing the idealized nude in an idyllic landscape, and understood how the Moderns broke with convention to conjure new visions of earthly paradise. Ben personalized the theme to create signature artworks.  The theme of the bathers reappears throughout Ben’s work from the 1920s on. In this show visitors saw his homage to Cezanne, as well as his variations of it. These works, in a wide variety of media, also provide insight into his relationship with women. At first there are a number of female bathers in his art, but eventually there is just one: his wife, Rae. She came to represent almost all feminine beauty in his work, and the paintings, drawings, and sculpture reveal respect, admiration, and most of all love between artist and model. This exhibition opened In June 2013 and ran through November 2013.