Ben and Rae Solowey had just finished lunch on May 26, 1978, when the artist told his wife he was going to trim hedges by the stone steps that led to their house. The couple, married just two weeks shy of forty eight years, were expecting guests from England that Memorial Day weekend.
Rae asked how long he might be, and Ben replied twenty minutes. After an hour, Rae went to look for Ben and discovered his lifeless body by the bridge over the creek that runs through the property. It was the end of six decades of award-winning artwork.
Rae would later write to a friend that she “encased herself in steel and went on.” She felt cheated of course, but was at peace on the farm, surrounded by the paintings, drawings, sculpture, and furniture that Ben had made.
Rae maintained his studio, more or less as it was, watering plants and looking through the racks of remaining work. She saw some pieces for the first time. She let the garden, which had supplied virtually all the flowers for Ben’s still lifes, go wild, allowing it to become her “wild French garden.”
As Studio visitors know, Ben is present at every exhibition in oil, watercolor, pastel, charcoal, plaster, bronze, and so many other media. In AN INTIMATE VIEW: Small Paintings & Drawings by Ben Solowey, there are two self portraits that practically bookend Ben’s career.
The oil at left is filled with such vibrant youthful energy that it seems Ben cannot look directly at the viewer. The bold splashes of color, and the loose brushwork reveal almost an impatience to get to the next painting as the works trails off in the lower right with bare white canvas. He assertively signs the work in red.
The drawing at right is much quieter. Its soft muted tones in delicate crayon shows the artist’s direct gaze at the viewer. Unflinching, but somehow not unforgiving, he is literally looking up from the drawing. By its tiny size, one would think this was a study, but the signature — a sure sign of Solowey approval — belies any tossed-off practice. Perhaps he intended the intimacy with the viewer, who has to draw their head in close to examine the work.
It is in many ways what Rae intended when she decided that the Studio should remain open for future generations to enjoy: a close personal experience with art that remains timeless.
Left: Self Portrait. Oil on canvas, 1925. 20 x 16 in.
Right: Self Portrait. Conté crayon on board, c. 1976. 5 1/2 x 4 in.
[…] • There are eight portraits of Rae and four self portraits. In one work, Rae can be seen in the first year of their marriage, elegantly dressed in a yellow gown. Two of Ben’s self portraits were the subjects of an earlier entry. […]
[…] want to miss are the unexpected pleasures of Ben’s work in the exhibition. The heavily impasto 1925 self portrait, the quintessential image of Rae titled Sunny Corner, the serene still life of peonies in a cut […]