American Art Collaborative

“The artist discovers beauty and meaning in whatever environment he is cast by chance,” Isaac Soyer wrote in 1947, “for no matter where he is born and grows up, his life work is set for him, to glorify and describe intimately and sympathetically, the people and the physical appearance of everything around him.” The bustle of a busy day in a beauty parlor animates this dynamic New York scene by Soyer, who concentrated on life in the city during the early 20th century.The painter used childhood friends as models for the man in the background at right and the woman in front getting a manicure.The hubbub of human activities competes with the dramatic patterned tile floor for the viewer’s attention.