AARON SOPHER American, 1905–1972 All the World's a Stage, 1965 Signed Sepia Wash Drawing Sepia pen-and-wash drawing depicts a theatrical stage scene viewed through an ornately scrolled proscenium arch draped with curtains and a bow. On the stage below, a small child in a nightcap plays a violin beside a round table topped with a single rose in a vase, while another figure climbs a ladder toward a tall bookshelf marked "POETRY," with a framed picture and crossed tennis rackets hanging on the wall nearby. Signed and dated "aaron sopher 1965" in the lower right. Verso titled. Framed. Not examined out of frame. Sight (as matted): 16.5 x 13.25 inches; frame: 21 x 18 inches $250-350
ARTIST PROFILE: Aaron Sopher (1905–1972) was an American artist celebrated for his lively, satirical depictions of Baltimore life in the early-to-mid 20th century. Born in East Baltimore, Maryland, on December 16, 1905, the tenth of thirteen children, Sopher studied at the Maryland Institute of Fine and Applied Arts (now the Maryland Institute College of Art) under director Alon Bement, though he left without a diploma due to frequent absences and an independent streak. He began his career as a freelance illustrator for The Baltimore Sun, receiving his first major commission in 1927 to illustrate a story on the Baltimore waterfront, which brought him wide recognition. During a two-year residence in New York from 1929 to 1931, his cartoons appeared in The New Yorker, as well as in the leftist publication The New Masses, reflecting his strong sense of social responsibility and sympathy for the working class. Known for his deft, economical pen-and-ink line and warm, humorous eye for the "common person," Sopher's style has often been compared to that of Daumier, Hogarth, and Rowlandson. His work appeared in Harper's Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, and Johns Hopkins Magazine, and was exhibited at the Carnegie Institute, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Library of Congress, and the New York Public Library, among other institutions. His art is now held in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Phillips Collection, and The Walters Art Museum. Sopher remained based in Baltimore throughout his life, continuing to chronicle the city's streets, markets, museums, and social movements until his death in 1972.
