The Studio of Ben Solowey, the only intact artist studio from the Golden Age of painting in Bucks County, is delighted to open its first new exhibition in three years. Welcome Back: Celebrating 80 Years of Ben Solowey in Bucks County, which includes paintings, drawings, prints, and sculpture by Ben Solowey that he created during his four decades in this area, all displayed in the handcrafted studio where Solowey worked. “There is nothing like the thrill of seeing these masterpieces where they were created, in Solowey’s spacious studio,” explains David Leopold, the Director of the Solowey Studio. Welcome Back: Celebrating 80 Years of Ben Solowey in Bucks County will open to the public on Saturday June 4^th at the Solowey Studio in Ottsville, PA with a reception from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and remain open on Sunday at the same hours. The exhibit will continue Wednesdays through Sundays, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., through Friday, June 17^th.

“It’s not every day you can step into an artist’s studio a generation after his death and see the place looking as fresh as if the maestro just stepped out of it,” wrote one reviewer after seeing a Solowey Studio show. The Studio has retained its freshness through thirty years of thematic exhibitions that have explored facets of Solowey’s work and those of his contemporaries.  Welcome Back: Celebrating 80 Years of Ben Solowey in Bucks County features a selection of works that Solowey, who enjoys internationally renown, painted in Bucks County. “There will old favorites as well as rarely or never-before-seen works,” says Leopold, “all to show the astonishing versatility of Ben Solowey. For those who only know his popular painting of his wife Rae in a green dress at the James Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, PA, they will be stunned to see that his still lifes, landscapes, and other figure work are equals to that iconic work.”

Solowey was part of the artistic community in the area, and Welcome Back: Celebrating 80 Years of Ben Solowey in Bucks County will feature his portraits of fellow artists, as well as a selection of their works of Solowey. “While Ben was happy to be working alone in his studio, or on his 34-acre property, their farm was a meeting place for many artists, and he regularly exhibited, and won awards at, local shows such as the annual Phillips Mill exhibitions.” Many of these works have not been publicly displayed before.

“In honor of our opening on June 4^th, we will continue our tradition of serving homemade refreshments in the Solowey home, “explains Leopold. “The two-hundred-year-old farmhouse was restored by Ben and is filled with museum quality furniture handcrafted by him. This will be the only time we open the house this year, so this truly is a special event.”

Images:
Young Corn with Hay. Oil on canvas, 20 x 30 in., 1965.
Self Portrait. Oil on canvas, 20 x 16 in., 1955.
Amber Bracelet. Oil on canvas, 30 x 25 in., c. 1948.
Peonies and Fan. Oil on canvas, 20 x 16 in., 1968.