Self-Revealment: A Memoir

Raphael Soyer (1899 - 1987) was a Russian-born American painter, draftsman, and printmaker. Soyer was referred to as an American scene painter. He is identified as a Social Realist because of his interest in men and women viewed in contemporary settings which included the streets, subways, salons and artists' studios of New York City. He also wrote several books on his life and art of which this is one. This journal is more than a recollection of his past, for Mr. Soyer expresses his opinions, gently but firmly, on his fellow painters and on the state of art today; he writes, for instance: "My art is representational by choice. In my opinion, if the art of painting is to survive, it must describe and express people, their lives and times. It must communicate." But above all, Mr. Soyer conveys with sincerity and a sense of wonder the glory and beauty of the phenomenon that is know as art. Self-Revealment is an honest and poignant glimpse into the life, emotions, and artistic philosophy of one of America's foremost and most beloved painters. From a review by John Ciardi, "Raphael Soyer's diaries are more than footnotes to a great talent. They are a quietly splendid experience of man and artist in the act of discovering again that his art is his humanity." The book includes many of Mr. Soyer's drawings.