New York Maine New York

Robert Solotaire
Maine Jewish Museum – Spiegel Gallery
June 30, 2022 – August 26, 2022

“Our father spent his life dedicated to the art and the practice of painting. It’s hard to think of dad without a paint brush in his hand, or standing in front of his easel, or without his camera walking down the street looking for new subject matter. But he was also a loving father, a beloved man about town, an avid reader, and clipper of the news (with strong opinions about what he was reading), a veteran gardener, a music lover, and a voracious traveler. He truly lived a full life, enjoying the world around him and the people he met, and his art reflected that.

For every hour he spent in front of the easel he spent many more walking the streets of Portland, New York City, Pittsburgh, Santa Fe, and so many small industrial towns around the country that fascinated him. His subjects were the places people worked and lived, the streets they walked, and the factories and plants that were the backbone of these cities. He also had great respect for the nature that surrounded those buildings and structures capturing the sky, trees, and water with a softness that stands in contrast to the solidness and detail of the human structures.”

“Dad made every subject he painted feel like he had a personal connection to it, as if he worked or lived there, and he was inviting you in to experience it the way he did. He was an artist who wanted to convey beauty in the everyday world wherever he found it and to share that experience with you. He was self-taught but an exacting teacher, filling countless sketch pads with studies and sketches. Reworking a painting over until it was just right. It was uncommon for people to be included in his finished work but he had pages and pages of drawings of bodies and faces. He did dozens of drawings of horses just so he could give one to his daughter of the animal she loves so much.”

“Having a parent as an artist means you have someone who can show you the beauty and wonder of the world around you every day. We hope the paintings on display here, in the town he called home for so long, convey some of those feelings to you.”

The paintings on display have been loaned for sale by Robert’s children Matt,
Lynn and Benjamin as well as Dana Williams and Annette & Rob Elowitch.
Fifty percent of the each sale will benefit the Maine Jewish Museum.