"Blue Abstraction" (From the Blue I Series)

Jim's of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by Solomon Ethe (1924 – 2019)

Solomon Ethe was born on June 22, 1924. A native New Yorker, he received a Masters of Business Administration from Columbia University before continuing onto a career as an economist for 15 years. During his term as an economist, Ethe began to collect the works of many distinguished modern artists, such as Paul Klee, Piet Mondrian, Joseph Cornell, Joan Miró, Francis Picabia, Kazimir Malevich, and František Kupka. Surrounded by these masterful compositions, Ethe's interest in artistic pursuits blossomed, and, in 1960, he opened his first studio in the Flatiron District of New York.

Ethe was entirely self-taught. He used his art collection as reference and study materials to develop his Non-Objective Expressionist style. Ethe's aesthetic is a clear combination of artistic principles pulled from these artists. When viewing his paintings, one can see the influence of Mondrian's geometric grids, the colorful abstractions of Severini and Kupka, Klee and Miró's expressive colorfields, as well as Malevich's commitment to pure abstraction. Ethe was also guided by the techniques of automated drawing and subconscious creation practiced by several of these artists. In these methods, the artist employs "a spontaneous and free-form interaction with the work in progress." Many critics have remarked on the lyrical optimism demonstrated in his paintings, pronounced in evocative brushstrokes, sharp geometric forms, and bright colors, creating a spiritual effect on the viewer.

Ethe has exhibited extensively at New York galleries from 1963 until 2016. His works have also been featured at the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art in Ridgefield, CT, 1974; the Huntington Hartford Museum's Gallery of Modern Art in New York, 1968; and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, PA, 1966. His painting “Concentration” appeared on the cover of the book, Dislocated Memories: Jews, Music and Post War German Culture by Tina Frühauf, published by Oxford University Press in 2014.

Solomon Ethe passed away on March 29, 2019.