'Autumn', by Janet Sobel, 1943.
Today is International Women's Day, and it put me in mind of Plainfield artist Janet Sobel, credited as being the 'mother of Abstract Expressionism' for having inspired Jackson Pollock with her so-called 'drip paintings', exhibited at Peggy Guggenheim's Art Of This Century gallery in New York in 1944.
I doubt I would even know of this pioneering, Ukrainian-born, 'outsider' woman artist if it had not been for a chance encounter with her son, Sol.
About fifteen years ago, when I was active in real estate, I had the privilege of helping Sol and Leah Sobel in the sale of their home in the 1300-block of Martine Avenue. It is one of my favorite Plainfield Tudors, with a distinctive, gently curving bay window facing the street.
Looking to downsize, Sol and Leah were packing up a lifetime of memories, including hundreds of his own canvases as well as a number of those of his mother, who had passed away in 1968 and whose name meant nothing to me.
I found the works fascinating, but there was no inkling that Janet Sobel had been such an influence on the American 20th century art scene. Art historian Libby Seaberg in her profile of the artist reveals that Janet Sobel was in a group show, A Painting Prophecy, 1950, which included, in addition to Pollock, Robert Motherwell, Stuart Davis, Mark Rothko and Louise Bourgeois.
Not too shabby for a Plainfield hausfrau!
Mark Rothko wrote Janet Sobel in 1947, seeking biographical info.
What Sol told me about mostly was the family's business connections in Plainfield -- they owned a Front Street jewelry store. Seaberg, however, cites the family's ownership of a factory in Perth Amboy employing two hundred in jewelry manufacture, and that they had moved to Plainfield in 1948 to be closer to the business.
According to Sol, the family had a residential compound atop a hillside on Woodland Avenue, just across from the Randolph Road intersection. By the time I had met him, the houses were in some disrepair, and I believe there had even been a fire in one of them. The compound has since been replaced by the Hovnanian development put up a number of years ago.
The Sobel compound was on the hilltop across Woodland from Hub-Stine Field.
Seaberg does a great deal of sleuthing to ferret out the history of both Sobel's exhibits and her peregrinations in probing the reasons for her later obscurity. (And she gives credit to the Plainfield Public Library's indefatigable Jessica Myers and Jane Thoner for their help in her research.)
It is fascinating to learn that she had a solo show at Swain Galleries in March, 1962, and was profiled in a January 6, 1962 interview by Waylande Gregory in the Plainfield Courier-News.
But even more startling to me, was that Seaberg credits Janet's entree into the art world to son Sol's relentless promotion of his mother's work. It was he who introduced her to Marc Chagall and the American philosopher and educator John Dewey, as well as to Max Ernst, who showed Sobel's works to his then-wife Peggy Guggenheim, hence her inclusion in the 1944 show.
Reading Seaberg gave me one of those six-degrees of separation moments: this Sol, this real estate client, had known Marc Chagall AND John Dewey? And his mother had been so influential?
Janet Sobel (shown in background photograph) was a subject
in a 2009 'outsider art' exhibit at Gary Snyder's Project Space.
Plainfield, I suspect, has more such surprising stories.
So, remember Janet Sobel on International Women's Day, the homey, plump Jewish grandmother who designed jewelry for the family business and turned to self-expression through painting in her middle age.
And take some satisfaction.
- Gary Snyder Project Space: "Janet Sobel Exhibit" -- A recent show.
- Bob Duggan on BigThink: "Mother of Invention"
- Libby Seaberg: "Will the real Jane Sobel please stand up?" -- Available in PDF.
- Paul Laster: "A night at New York's Outsider Art Fair"
-- Dan Damon [follow]
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9 comments:
I knew the Sobels. The family also owned a Women's wear shop on Watchung Ave. The wife of the owner, perhaps Leah Sobel, worked at Hubbard JHS in the 60s, when I taught there. She was a remarkable woman, brilliant and talented. I believe that she was a voice coach to major operatic singers. The Sobels were very much a part of a rich cultured community in the 20th century.
Plainfield had many famous artists who contributed greatly to the culture that I remember. I hope that the city has protected some of the treasures that were owned by the city and the public library, Albert Bierstadts, Winslow Homers, etc.
Bob Johnson
This is the same reason I fell in love with my home - the beautiful window, but more importantly, the good spirits and positive energy I get from being there.
Dan thanks so much for this inspiring article. I am SO PROUD to live in a home where someone so unique and talented once lived.
Warm regards,
Libby Price
When I attended Hubbard Middle School in the early 1970's, Rose Sobel worked there as the school secretary. She was quite the colorful personality--something of a cross between a finishing school matron and a flamboyant stage personality, and she dressed the part! She had perfect etiquette and impeccable diction (her voice was heard everyday on the PA sytem.) She possessed an intoxicating joie de vivre.
I recall that she and her husband lived in an enormous Greek Revival Mansion on a hillside overlooking the whole of Plainfield and beyond--it was accessed from a winding private drive off of Woodland Avenue. It burned to the ground sometime in the 1980's.
Dan, I just found this article on the Sobel's and was wondering if you are in contact with any of the family? We used to live on Hillside Ave in Plainfield. I was born at Muhlenberg Hospital. My family were very good friends with them in the 50's. We would swim in their in ground pool on their compound. I remember their large home like it was yesterday. My brothers were friends with David, but I do not remember any of their other children, just his Mom/Dad.
Thanks! Debi Dinehart
Debi -- I'm sorry to say I don't know what's become of Sol and Leah Sobel, except that they left the Plainfield area. That was a good number of years ago. I do not think there is any family left hereabouts.
You might try getting in touch with Dr. Harold Yood, who writes the olddoc blog (http://dpotpourri.blogspot.com/).
Just post a comment to one of his stories and ask your question; if you give him an email address, he can contact you on the side -- without publishing it on his blog.
All best, Dan
I wish someone had depictions of the Sobel home(s) on Woodland Avenue. I recall the fire, and stories of friends who scavenged through a dilapidated mansion up there. It's so sad to know that piece of history is gone without any visual record.
We were such good friends in the
50's and early 60's with the family and spent a lot of time on their compound swimming in their pool and staying at their home. We left Plainfield in 64 and I guess our family lost touch with them, as we did not know of the fire. It is sad and I wonder sometimes where their son David is..
I'm Janet Sobel's great grand-aughter, her daughter Lillian's grand-daughter.
The house was indeed amazing and magical. There were rumors in the family that the fire was not accidental.
It was/is a very interesting and complicated family with a history just as much.
Yes, there are some of us still around, though most are scattered or out of contact.
Thank you for writing this article, it's nice to fi
Janet, could you email me at rinconmd@aol.com? We were close to David and we were wondering where he is? Thanks, Debi Dinehart Rincon
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