Joseph Solman : oils : interiors
Loft Period, 1938-42, Early Interiors, Still Lifes, Portraits by Sidney Janis (an extract from the book ‘Joseph Solman’ by DaCapo Press, 1977)
The still lifes, interiors and portrait studies included in the present exhibition (at the Bonestell Gallery, 1942) reflect moments of quiet inner serenity. Originally, vibrating exteriors came from the brush of Joseph Solman. Between these phases there is no sharp break for they are part of a cycle yet to be completed.
In the early period the spectator found himself traversing Solman’s bold, expressionist Streets, and later, peering into his subtle, more abstract Ice Cellars. Now, he enters the painter’s studio, where through obliquely opening windows, once again he sees the street. His viewpoint has been reversed, and with it, the lights and darks of all he gazes upon. The style as well has altered, being neither abstract no expressionist but rather a fusion of the two.
Solman, in his studio interiors, pays homage to various masters of the past by including single examples of each in his compositions, either on the wall or on the table, and each gives the clue to the motif for Solman’s immediate design. There is no eclecticism, nor is there any sacrifice of his own personal style, for this motif does not come from the master’s iconography bit is imaginatively formed by Solman himself. Always the sensitive colorist, his crisp, dry, spontaneous spreading of pigment is thoroughly worked into his plastic theme.
