Soyer, Raphael, 1899-1987

Soyer was a painter; New York, N.Y.

From the description of Artists' statement, 1947. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122394893

Painter.

From the description of Raphael Soyer papers, 1949-1954. (Cornell University Library). WorldCat record id: 63935130

Raphael Soyer, 1899-1987, painter of New York, N.Y.

From the description of Oral history interview with Raphael Soyer, 1981 May 13-June 1. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 657038622

From the description of Oral history interview Raphael Soyer, 1981 May 13-June 1. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 646396902

Raphael Soyer was a painter.

From the guide to the Raphael Soyer papers, 1949-1954., (Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library)

Painter (New York, N.Y.).

From the description of Oral history interview Raphael Soyer, 1981 May 13-1981 June 1. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 84201814

Raphael Soyer (1899-1987) was a painter and printmaker in New York, N.Y.

Born in Tombov (or Borisoglebsk), Russia, Soyer was one of six siblings, including twin Moses, and brothers Isaac and Israel, who were encouraged in their art work by their father, a teacher of Hebrew literature. Raphael Soyer studied drawing and painting at the Cooper Union, at the National Academy of Design, ca. 1919, and with Guy Pene Du Bois at the Art Students League. His first one-man show was at the Daniel Gallery in 1929. He became noted for his prints and paintings of social realism during the Depression, and taught at the Art Students League, The New School, and at the National Academy of Design.

From the description of Raphael Soyer papers, 1933-1989. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 220233716

Painter; New York, N.Y.

Noted for his social realism in painting.

From the description of Raphael Soyer lecture, 1960. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122355184

Raphael Soyer (1899-1987) and his twin brother Moses (1899-1974) were born on December 25, 1899, in the Russian town Borisoglebsk. Their father Abraham was a scholar and Hebrew teacher who encouraged all of his children to sketch and paint. After the family was deported from Russia, they settled in the Bronx, New York, in 1912. Raphael and Moses briefly attended school, but at 16 they began working various jobs to help support their family. They also began taking free art classes at Cooper Union and later Raphael attended the National Academy of Design and the Art Students League where he studied with Guy Pene du Bois. He began to show his paintings in 1926 and in 1929 gallery owner Charles Daniel gave him his first one man show. Soyer became one of the leading realist painters and printmakers, often depicting Depression-era transients, Manhattan streetscapes, shoppers, and women at work. He also painted and sketched numerous self-portraits and portraits of fellow artists and cultural figures, many of whom were also his friends, including Allen Ginsberg, Chaim Gross, Edward Hopper, and Arshile Gorky.

Beginning in the 1930s Soyer showed his work frequently at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Associated American Artists Galleries, National Collection of Fine Arts, and other national and international exhibitions. During the 1940s and 1950s he was a leading advocate of realism and spoke out against the abstract style that was dominating the New York art scene. In 1953 he co-founded Reality magazine.

Soyer joined the Forum Gallery in New York in the early 1960s and became good friends with his dealer Bella Fishko. Also during the 1960s he published three books, A Painter's Pilgrimage (1962), Homage to Thomas Eakins (1966), and Self-Revealment: a Memoir (1969), and had his first retrospective at the Whitney Museum in 1967.

Throughout his career Soyer also occasionally taught at art schools including the Art Students League and the New School. He also collaborated with his friend, writer Isaac Bashevis Singer, by illustrating several of Singer's books. Soyer and his wife Rebecca, whom he married in 1931, lived the rest of their lives in New York City, but often traveled to Europe. They had one daughter, Mary. Soyer's final book, Diary of an Artist, was published in 1977 and in 1979 he received the Gold Medal from the National Arts Club. He continued painting realist subjects until his death in 1987.

From the guide to the Raphael Soyer papers, 1933-1989, (Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution)