Janet Sobel is one of the unsung heroines of 20th century art.
Her idiosyncratic and shape-shifting aesthetic was championed by collector Peggy Guggenheim, artist Mark Rothko and curator William Rubin. Sobel’s self-taught practice began in humble circumstances when she began to sketch memories of her Jewish upbringing in Eastern Europe. It also brought her to the attention of legendary gallerist and curator Sidney Janis, who included a painting by Sobel in his show American Primitive Paintings at the Arts Club of Chicago in 1943.
Sobel’s works are in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Born in Ukraine in 1893, died in New Jersey in 1968.