Sol Zaretsky
Early and Recent Work
July 14-31, 2021
Undiscovered master colorist and tireless investigator of paintings’ possibilities, Zaretsky at 92 is having his day in this first solo at Blue Mountain Gallery. It is his first solo show in NYC since 1975.
Zaretsky’s paintings contain a lush colorist’s sensibility and evoke a fluid dynamic quality of juxtaposing shapes and color to create a sense of movement as seen in his landscapes and abstractions. By using a saturated color palette, combined with gestural brushstrokes, he explores biomorphic shapes and abstract representations of nature. Sol experiments with different forms and lighting, sometimes subdued and diffuse and sometimes vibrant, he skillfully and playfully balances his independent style.
After growing up in a tenement on New York’s Lower East Side, Sol found the Henry Street Settlement where classes introduced him to art. He went on to the High School of Art and Design, followed by Cooper Union and finished his education at Yale where he studied with Joseph Albers among others. When returning to painting full time after his career as the Chairman of the Seward Park High School Art Department, he studied with Louis Finklestein and Stanley Lewis.
He has shown work at Bowery and Kenkeleba galleries in New York and his work is in the permanent collection of the Brooklyn Museum.
