Sep 21, 2021 - Sale 2579

Sale 2579 - Lot 67

Price Realized: $ 3,250
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000

RAPHAEL SOYER (1899-1987)


Rooftops in Cape Cod.
Watercolor and pencil on cream wove paper. 232x283 mm; 9 1/8x11 1/8 inches. Signed in ink, lower left recto. Circa 1925-30.

Soyer was born in Russia and immigrated to New York at the age of twelve. He studied at Cooper Union, the National Academy of Design and with Guy Pène du Bois (1884-1958) at the Art Students League. He is known as a Social Realist, depicting the daily struggles of those living in New York City. His chosen subject matter became especially poignant at the onset of the Great Depression, and, after he began to exhibit his work in the late 1920s, he cemented his reputation among the top realist painters of the 20th century.

His time spent at Cape Cod, however, reveals a different side of the artist. He traveled there throughout his life where he visited friends, including Edward Hopper (1882-1967), and his visits allowed him to experiment with pure landscape scenes. These works diverge from his figural, social realist work and show a colorful and modern approach to depicting the vivid New England scenery.