Samuel Rabin Exhibition Catalogue

Darnley Fine Art is delighted to be hosting an exhibition of works by the Modern British artist Samuel Rabin (1903-1991).This exceptional exhibition showcases more than fifteen of Samuel Rabin’s anatomical studies and boxing scenes, produced from the 1950s onwards.

Samuel Rabin discovered from his early sporting experiences how intriguing the boxing ring could be as an artistic source, creating a variety of three-dimensional abstract images from any viewpoint. In his boxing scenes Samuel Rabin afforded the opportunity to consider these changing relationships between different bodies in movement and space. Producing art of monumentality, subtlety and simplicity, it is easy to compare Samuel Rabin’s boxing scenes to the work of Degas.

Samuel Rabin himself was an incredibly enigmatic figure whose life-story reads like a novel. As well as an artist, he also found renown as an opera singer, teacher, wrestler and Olympic bronze medallist. It is perhaps this eclectic set of personal experiences that led to the artist feeling no need to join an artistic group or movement during his time, instead viewing his artistic process as an individual struggle for perfection.

This is an extraordinary chance to see such a collection of Samuel Rabin’s work as the artist’s pictures have been exhibited only on the rare occasion. Indeed, it was not until Samuel Rabin had reached the age of eighty-two that the first large exhibition of his works was shown to the British public at the Dulwich College Picture Gallery in 1985. This exhibition from Darnley Fine Art is thus a timely opportunity for the work of Samuel Rabin to reach a greater number of admirers.