Moses Soyer
American, born Russia, 1899 - 1974Self-Portrait, ca. 1927
Not on view
Lithograph on paper
Dimensions20 × 13 1/16 in. (50.8 × 33.2 cm)
Image: 12 3/8 × 11 5/8 in. (31.4 × 29.5 cm)
Gift of Mr. Jack B. Pierson, 1987.15.1
Moses Soyer was born in Czarist Russia in 1899 and was one of three artistic brothers, the others being Raphael and Isaac. Raphael Soyer was Moses’ identical twin. The work of both brothers are featured in this exhibition. For most of his career, Soyer was dedicated to artistic expression of the social-realist themes of the Depression in America. Later in his career, Soyer turned to the depiction of female figures, especially ballet dancers. He was raised in an intellectual atmosphere created by his father, a Hebrew scholar. In 1912, the Soyers moved to the United States and eventually settled in New York City.
The Depression set the mood for most of Soyer’s motifs. The Works Project Administration (W.P.A.) provided him with work as well as the fellowship of other artists, but the era itself provided the social sentiments which permeate most of Soyer’s work. Using some of the techniques of his favorite artists, such as Rembrandt and Gustave Courbet, he portrayed his subjects in the perseverance of hard work and uncertainty of unemployment. After the Depression, Soyer tended towards ballet subjects, reminiscent of Degas, yet his work retained his own personal style of conveying sentimental moods.
