Croatia's Maximillian Vanka
Barry Marjanovich
Barry Marjanovich
Sunday, May 6, 2001
On display, works of two artists who found a muse here
Maximillian Vanka and Ben Solowey both settled in Bucks County in the early
1940s.
By Catherine Quillman
INQUIRER SUBURBAN STAFF
DOYLESTOWN - Painter Ben Solowey was born in Poland in 1900 and studied art
in Paris before settling in Bucks County in 1942. Maximillian Vanka was born
in Croatia in 1889 and had places in New York's Manhattan and the Bowery
before moving to Bucks County in 1941.
They were different artists, but they both found inspiration in the
Pennsylvania countryside. Their lives - as told in paintings, drawings and
murals - are on view in two separate exhibits at the James A. Michener Art
Museum here.
Both exhibits are rounded out with such special events as lectures and
studio tours. As part of the Vanka exhibit, for instance, an evening of
dance and musical performances celebrating the artist's homeland, called A
Vanka Celebration: An evening of Croatian Culture, will be held June 23.
The larger exhibit of the two, The Gift of Sympathy: The Art of Maxo Vanka,
which continues through July 1, is the first retrospective of the artist to
be held in America.
Today, nearly four decades after his death in 1963, when he drowned off the
coast of Mexico, Vanka is considered an important artist because his career
spanned major periods of art, including the birth of modernism.
The exhibit is organized into four sections and highlights what the show
organizers call the "artist-emigre" experience in America.
One section is centered on the years after Vanka arrived in New York in 1934
and began establishing his career as an artist who gave "dignity" to the
working poor, sketching scenes and people in New York's Bowery and Harlem
neighborhoods.
Another section highlights work from his early years in Croatia, when he was
considered one of that country's best portrait painters. The portrait work
contrasts with images from other parts of the exhibit that feature World War
I scenes and soldiers recalled from Vanka's service as a Red Cross officer.
The show's curator, David Leopold, who also organized the Solowey exhibit,
describes Vanka's handling of such diverse subjects as unique. "It's rare to
find an artist whose work shares so much with both classical and
contemporary art," Leopold said of Vanka's style, which combines the images
of Renaissance art with the stylistic sophistication of the modernist
painters.
Leopold calls the show a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" to understand a
celebrated artist whose work clearly reflects America and the "history,
mythology and customs" of his homeland.
The Solowey exhibit, on view through July 8, commemorates the 100th
anniversary of the artist's death with a range of paintings and drawings
including landscapes and still-lifes.
Although the exhibit focuses on Solowey's output in Bucks County from 1942
until his death in 1978, it also displays a range of styles from an artist
who came of age during the impressionist movement of the 1920s.
Solowey never considered himself an impressionist painter, though. As
curator Leopold describes him, Solowey was never part of any art movement or
school. "He was a rare individual who did exactly what he wanted," Leopold
said. Leopold will give a free talk on Solowey at 1 p.m. on May 22.
A special tour and luncheon of the Solowey's former studio, where Leopold
serves as director, is also planned for June 9. An exhibit of Solowey's work
also will be shown at the studio.
The James A. Michener Art Museum is at 138 S. Pine St. in Doylestown.
Admission is $5 for adults; $4.50 for adults older than 60 and $1.50 for
students. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays; and 10
a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.