Moses Soyer
(American, 1899–1974)
Biography
Moses Soyer was a Russian-American painter, best known for his Social Realist portraits of Depression-Era Americans. Born on December 25, 1899 in Borisoglebsk, Russia, Soyer was a key figure in the early 20th-century American realist movement. His stylized and moody portraits, usually of women, sought to provide a representative depiction of daily American psychology and struggle during a period of economic turmoil. After immigrating to the United States with his family in 1912, Soyer went on to study painting at the Cooper Union in New York, where he was taught and became influenced by Ashcan painters like George Bellows and Robert Henri. Around a decade later, Soyer held his first solo exhibition and procured became a tenured professor at The New School, signifying the beginning of a long and prolific career. Today, his paintings are held in such collections as The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and the Detroit Institute of Art, among others. Soyer died in the Chelsea Hotel in New York, NY on September 3, 1974.
Moses Soyer Artworks
Moses Soyer
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