Raphael Soyer, Bowery Nocturne, 1933. Lithograph: image, 12 3/4 × 17 7/8 in. (32.4 × 45.5 cm); sheet, 15 3/16 × 21 3/8 in. (38.6 x 54.3 cm) irregular. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from The Lauder Foundation, Leonard and Evelyn Lauder Fund 96.68.253
found here whitney.org
Seamstress / 1950/60s…
Oil on Canvas
A few things immediately captivated me about this piece by Soyer. First of all, it’s natural, there is no pretense of pose or idea behind it, it is just the moment of time. Seemly he has just simply sat, observed and with introversion created a genre painting. I truly resonate with the concept. Just yesterday I was sitting in a park and saw a little girl with the sweetest curliest strawberry hair pointing at man riding by in English attire on a “real horse”. It was the very first time she had ever seen one. I’m sure for her it was a very entrancing moment, I felt it, but sadly, my sketchbook was too far away to grasp it.
Another aspect that I enjoy of this painting is that the observation is made on seamstresses in the 1950s-1960s. While in that time period it was more of a task work than creativity, I still see it as piece that represents art within art. To my mind, sewing is an expression of patience, intuition, and creativity; mixed with the technical details of metric spacing.
Another beautiful piece depicting seamstresses by Soyer may found here.
(Source: honeymuse)
