Late Representational Painter
(1899-1974)
Moses Soyer was born, along with his twin brother,
[Raphael Soyer|Raphael, in Borisglebsk,
Russia on Christmas Day in 1899 to a wife of a professor of
Hebrew literature.
The family was deported by Czarist Russians in 1913, and they arrived in New York City. After struggling in two different schools, Moses was schooled in the non-traditional Ferrer Art School in Spanish Harlem.
At Ferrer, artist Robert Henri became a strong influence with the Ashcan School that emphasized the down-trodden everyday hard working people around them.
Soyer opened his own one-man show in 1926, and his special touring art scholarship gave him the opportunity to study in Europe.
He spent his time in many museums, especially the Louvre, where he became intimately familiar with all it's paintings, but he focused primarily on drawing.
Upon his return to New York, he began his prolific painting, which was beginning to really take off when the Great Depression caused him to then earn some commissions and decorate government buildings.
His Impressionist and representational style became out of favor after World War II, as the public demanded Abstract Expressionism and Action Painting. He continued, however painting and drawing in his style the poor of the City, as well as self and other portraits.
He has a certain limited, but faithful clique of collectors, that enjoy his charming work.
Source: Springfield Museum of Art, Ohio
http://www.spfld-museum-of art.or/catalog/soyer_m.hml