Abraham Solomon

Meyer (Michael) Solomon, the father of the British painter Abraham Solomon was one of the first Jews to receive full civil rights in London. He was a straw hat maker and trader by profession and the family of 10 lived in good conditions in Bishopsgate/London. Three of the Solomons' children were artistically gifted. The younger brother of Abraham, Simeon Solomon also became a famous painter and had great success as a pre-Raphaelite. The younger sister Rebecca also became a very good painter. Both siblings received their first drawing lessons from their older brother Abraham. Abraham first attended the Blombury Art School and was then accepted at the Royal Academy London. Already at the age of 17 he exhibited his first works at the Royal Society of British Artists. Especially the painting "Rabbi explaining the script" inspired the audience. Abbraham Solomon mostly painted genre pictures, often also after literary models such as the painting "Grisette" after Molière's famous play "Tartuffe or the Betrayer", "Phyllis and Brunetta" after a play by Brewer and a scene from Sir Walter Scott's "Fair Maid of Perthan". But he also painted numerous portraits and landscapes. Over the years Abraham Solomon became a very popular and recognized artist in England. His paintings, often in dark colours, are brilliantly composed and seem to glow from within. It is also remarkable how faithfully the costumes of the acting persons are represented. His works are also particularly dramatic because he often planned and executed the subject in pairs, such as the oil paintings "First Class - The Meeting" (painted in 1854) and "Sekond Class - The Parting" (painted in 1855, as well as "Waiting for the Verdikt" and Not Guilty (both from 1857)