Joseph Solman spent a great deal of time in New York’s subway system, both in the early 1930s going to and from school and in the 1950s commuting to his occasional job as a clerk at the Aqueduct racetrack pari-mutuel in Queens, to which he resorted when work such as his art was eschewed by, well, most everyone. He spent his time on the subway sketching. Solman often said that he learned more by sketching in the subway—particularly late at night—than in school. He said, people “pose perfectly when they’re asleep.” In 1964, the Times, discussing his Solman’s subway gouaches, called him a “Pari-Mutuel Picasso.” He used his pad of betting slips as a sketch-book and repository of discreet notes about the people he sketched.
Medium:
Gouache and pencil on newsprint racing form Date:
1961 Signature:
Signed with oil stick by the artist en recto lower right. Framing:
Custom matted and framed in a fine Walnut frame behind Museum Glass using strictly conservation-grade materials. Condition:
Excellent condition Framed Size:
19 in. (h) x 15.5 in. (w) x 1.5 in. (d) Sheet Size:
11.5 in. (h) x 7.5 in. (w)
Colored Woman Subway Gouache
$7,200.00
Joseph Solman (Washingtonian)
Description
Joseph Solman spent a great deal of time in New York’s subway system, both in the early 1930s going to and from school and in the 1950s commuting to his occasional job as a clerk at the Aqueduct racetrack pari-mutuel in Queens, to which he resorted when work such as his art was eschewed by, well, most everyone. He spent his time on the subway sketching. Solman often said that he learned more by sketching in the subway—particularly late at night—than in school. He said, people “pose perfectly when they’re asleep.” In 1964, the Times, discussing his Solman’s subway gouaches, called him a “Pari-Mutuel Picasso.” He used his pad of betting slips as a sketch-book and repository of discreet notes about the people he sketched.
Additional information
Paintings
Details
Medium:
Gouache and pencil on newsprint racing form
Date:
1961
Signature:
Signed with oil stick by the artist en recto lower right.
Framing:
Custom matted and framed in a fine Walnut frame behind Museum Glass using strictly conservation-grade materials.
Condition:
Excellent condition
Framed Size:
19 in. (h) x 15.5 in. (w) x 1.5 in. (d)
Sheet Size:
11.5 in. (h) x 7.5 in. (w)
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