This exhibition and its accompanying catalogue explores the often uneasy relationship between the art of easel painting and the art of illustration. It focuses on artists who were an important part of the history of the narrative tradition in American culture and who practiced both easel painting and illustration in the years between 1850 and 1950. Among the artists represented are Winslow Homer, N.C. Wyeth, Frederic Remington, John Sloan, Grant Wood, and Rockwell Kent.
Included in the exhibition is a lovely Solowey oil of Rae, the 1935 Rae Seated (Green Dress), and Ben’s first Theater Portrait from life, Ethel Barrymore. While Ben’s Theater Portraits were not illustrations in the purest sense, as they were stand alone features in The New York Times and Herald Tribune, the Solowey Studio was pleased to lend the work to this fine installation.
From a recent review of the show:
“…Not every artist felt his creativity suffered from using print media as an outlet for his work.
The New York Times recognized Ben Solowey’s talent for painting theatrical subjects and enabled him to perfect his gift for portraiture by commissioning more than 500 charcoal sketches of leading actresses of the day.
The first, which is on display at the exhibition, was of Ethel Barrymore (1929), who was so taken with the portrait that she autographed the work in the upper right hand corner.
Once again, the Brandywine River Museum has come up with a winner of an exhibition. As with its recent retrospectives on Andy Warhol and Elihu Vedder, “Double Lives” is not to be missed.”
