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An Artist Emerges on the Upper West Side

July 11, 2023 | 10:39 AM
in ART, NEWS, REAL ESTATE
21
Sophie Fain on the stoop of the brownstone on West 88th Street where she had her first commission in the summer of 2022. Photograph by Daniel Krieger.

By Daniel Krieger

Until last summer, painting was just a hobby for Sophie Fain. A special-education teacher who lives and works on the Upper West Side, Fain was finishing up her second master’s and thought selling her art could be a creative and fun way to help pay off her student loans. So she posted on a few Facebook groups that she was seeking commissions. And the reception revealed there was quite a demand for what she was offering.

The first brownstone commission that Sophie Fain got a year ago on West 88th Street. Courtesy Sophie Fain.

“It blew up,” she said on a recent morning in Riverside Park, sitting on a bench near the community garden at 91st Street. The spark was a request for a painting of a brownstone on West 88th Street. From there, they kept coming.

“I always loved Upper West Side brownstones,” Fain, who is 27, said. “I feel like I could sit and stare at a brownstone for hours. An artist made it, which is so different from buildings made today.”

Pretty quickly, her vivid watercolors of brownstones and old buildings became a niche. That’s what people wanted — a pretty framed image of a special place full of memories that they could put on their wall. One woman had raised her children in the brownstone; a doorman of a pre-war building was retiring after 30 years; another woman requested her first New York apartment with her and her dog on the stoop, followed by others who also wanted to be in the picture.

Row of brownstones on West 81st Street that includes the “bearded” one. Courtesy Sophie Fain.

“Everyone has some sort of connection,” she said, explaining that that is what makes the Upper West Side series so gratifying. Fain had tapped into this desire to memorialize a place by providing an elegant and original means.

Her subjects, commissioned or not, are the typical pre-war buildings that characterize the aesthetic of the neighborhood, which has been altered in recent years by a spate of luxury high-rises. She wouldn’t paint one of those, she said, “because I don’t feel attached to them.”

Building on Broadway on 85th-86th street. Commission. Courtesy Sophie Fain.

Fain is currently working on several commissions of buildings, and she also produces a fair amount of non-commissioned work for practice and fun. Still finding her footing, she wants to expand her repertoire, and recently started doing live painting at events, such as weddings. Another niche she has developed is pet portraits. She also gets commissions for homes outside the city and likes to paint natural settings, both urban and rural. And earlier this year, she started selling prints from her growing archive.

The child of Russian immigrants, Fain grew up in Riverdale, studied art at LaGuardia and history at Barnard, and then did Teach for America. She never aspired to be a professional artist and now, earning up to $250 for a painting, is still reluctant to call herself that. Her Instagram page puts it this way: “teacher by day…artist by night.”

“It’s more like a hobby with clients,” she said. “I feel so excited to do art, but my fear is that if I became a full-time artist, I would lose the joy. I’m happy with where things are now.”

She begins her process on site, where she spends an hour capturing the essence — outlining the structure in pencil — and then takes a few photos and finishes at home with ink and watercolor, spending about five hours total.

On Fain’s Upper West Side, cars do not exist, nor do dining or sidewalk sheds, scaffolding, garbage bags or other sources of visual blight. Colorful, bright and animated, the paintings show the neighborhood in an idealized light, a perspective that comes naturally to her, she said.

“People talk negatively about New York because of all the trash and the rats,” she went on, “but here’s something beautiful — this beautiful brownstone you walk by.”

What makes the series meaningful to Fain is sharing her affection for the neighborhood and its architecture by “making something that people can remember and love,” she said. “I’ve walked by these buildings that they ask me for a thousand times. I feel just as much attachment to the place. I feel like I’m just drawing my home.”

A row of brownstones on West 70th Street last fall. Courtesy Sophie Fain.

Contact Sophie Fain via Instagram or email.

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21 Comments
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Lori
Lori
2 years ago

Really nice.

1
Reply
Art Appreciator
Art Appreciator
2 years ago

What a wonderful, bright light on the UWS. Thank you for introducing us to Sophia Fain, WSR.

18
Reply
Danielle
Danielle
2 years ago

Sophie is the best 🙂 She does amazing wedding paintings as well.

6
Reply
Old Westsider
Old Westsider
2 years ago

Simply wonderful! The paintings really connote the
Upper West Side.

12
Reply
B Flat
B Flat
2 years ago

Sophie’s work is delightful, she really captures UWS charm.

12
Reply
Rachel Dahill-Fuchel
Rachel Dahill-Fuchel
2 years ago

This is wonderful work. How can someone be in touch with the artist?

5
Reply
Lyn
Lyn
1 year ago
Reply to  Rachel Dahill-Fuchel

Instagram or email (links provided at the very bottom of the article, underneath the last picture).

0
Reply
Betty
Betty
2 years ago

So beautiful!!! All distinct characters. Thank you Sophia Fain! Can’t wait to figure out what I’d like you to paint.

2
Reply
marianne erdos
marianne erdos
2 years ago

I had a graduation gift to my grandson a year ago. Five pictures of his life in UWS and other buildings. Main picture where he lived surrounded by schools: nursery, elementary, high, college. Framed by his college’s colors. Every FaceTime with him I enjoy the picture behind him on the wall.
In two years I will try Fain for another graduation picture. Fain will you do it?

2
Reply
Wendy
Wendy
2 years ago

Beautiful work!

4
Reply
Deirdre MacGuire
Deirdre MacGuire
2 years ago

Such lovely and loving details of our neighborhood. Quite reminiscent of work by Robert Miles Parker, whose drawings were published in local newspapers in the 1970’s and 80’s. Built-in nostalgia from an artist of a new generation. Thank you, Sophie

Last edited 2 years ago by Deirdre MacGuire
3
Reply
Pat Weich
Pat Weich
2 years ago

Absolutely charming.

2
Reply
Kit
Kit
2 years ago

How delightful. Good for you, Sophie! Your work is lovely.

3
Reply
Thomas Gulotta
Thomas Gulotta
2 years ago

Yet there are people who want to get rid of these brownstones for more housing.

1
Reply
Myra Bauerband
Myra Bauerband
2 years ago

How beautiful Ms.Sophie!

1
Reply
Amy
Amy
2 years ago

These watercolors are so beautiful, evocative and vibrant (I love the expressive pet portraits too!) Brava Sophie, you are such a gifted and inspired artist, I would love to see your work in The New Yorker! Many thanks to Daniel Krieger and WSR for shining a light on Sophie and her extraordinary paintings.

1
Reply
Susan
Susan
2 years ago

Absolutely beautiful paintings. You’re on to something special Sophie!

2
Reply
Jo Silverman.
Jo Silverman.
2 years ago

People like Sophia are all around us. Just stop and look for them. They are treasures in our midst.

2
Reply
Tanklin Fortsch
Tanklin Fortsch
2 years ago

Thank you sharing this wonderful young artist with us! More stories like this please.
No mention of crime, immigration, politics . . .just beautiful, vibrant interpretations of our amazing neighborhood. I would proudly display any one of these paintings in my home. Such a talent.

4
Reply
oldtimer
oldtimer
2 years ago

You have the gift Sophie.

2
Reply
neighbor785
neighbor785
2 years ago

So lovely. As someone said downthread, a bright light on the UWS.

2
Reply

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