Introduction

We created this website to pay tribute to and celebrate the artwork of our grandfather and great-grandfather Joseph Suib. We grew up surrounded by his paintings, sculptures, etchings, murals and decorative artwork and were fascinated by his larger-than-life presence.

Our intention is to exhibit and share his extraordinary breadth of artistic expression and to create interest for museums, institutions, and galleries to preserve and exhibit his work for generations to come.

(Herman) Joseph Suib was born in Lithuania in 1883 and emigrated to New York City in 1890. He became an artist in the early part of the 20th Century and pursued an interest in drawing with the encouragement of his teachers, although he ended his formal schooling in the fourth grade. Later he attended Cooper Union Art School and The National Academy of Design, where he studied under the American painter Robert Henri.

Suib was deeply influenced by Robert Henri, who said: "Art is the giving by each man of his evidence to the world. Those who wish to give, love to give, discover the pleasure of giving."

Suib lived by this principle and never sought to sell his artwork, though he exhibited his work extensively at a number of venues including the Whitney Studio Club, The Salons of America, and Anderson Gallery.

He exhibited with notable artists such as Benjamin Kopman, George Bellows, Edward Hopper, Joseph Stella, Raphael Soyer, and Alfred Stieglitz.

He was active in various art movements including: American Impressionism (Plein-air school), Ashcan School, and Social Realism.

His portraitures capture the inner persona of each of his subjects, while his landscapes are immersive, delicately embracing the movement and light of nature. In his expressive compositions he often would draw from spiritual, social, and political themes.

His passion lives in his art and we hope you become engaged as we have over the years.

--The Suib Family