Samuel Lewis Shane - Return To Philadelphia

Return To Philadelphia

In 1976, upon Belle's retirement, they moved to Philadelphia, to be near their oldest two children, Paul and Joanne, and a grandchild, Robert. Shane began painting again in earnest particularly focusing on dance and jazz. He also made paintings specifically for his grandchildren, of sports, circuses and similar more realistic subject matter. He worked in the studio set up in their Philadelphia home right up to the end. He did scenes of his childhood in Ryzhnyifke, particularly with his grandfather, people and scenes in Jerusalem, Puerto Rico and Mexico.

A characteristic of his art is the use of strong colors, crowded scenes, streets without people or night clubs full of people. He did work in many media, oil, gouache, pastel, pencil, charcoal, lithographs. He often made a variety of sketches, black and white and in color before painting a work in oil. He was very skilled in copying exactly, which is seen in his sketches, lithographs and paintings. Most of his works were impressionist with elements of cubism and non-objectivism.

The house, in which they lived in their later years, in Germantown, Philadelphia, is now a repository of a large number of his collected works and has an exhibit of his work from his early paintings through to his latest ones.