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Meet the Artist:
Michael P. Solovey
Solovey's hometown is Williamsburg, Virginia. During his high school years in the early 1990s, he was selected to attend both the American Legion's Boy's State program followed by the Virginia Governor's School for the Visual & Performing Arts at the University of Richmond. During the latter, he earned a scholarship to the Savannah School of Art & Design.
In his final year of high school, he was accepted to matriculate at the Virginia Military Institute in 1992. It seemed polar opposite educational paths were now in play. Solovey chose the path less travelled & joined the Ratline and embraced the notoriously-spartan barracks lifestyle. He majored in Modern Languages whilst concurrently studying French, German, & Spanish and elected to enroll in every possible art course offered at the Institute. Solovey would also soon earn an Army ROTC Scholarship & also participated in cadet exchanges in both Estonia and Germany. During his senior year, he then studied abroad in southern France (Aix-en-Provence) enrolling in the Marchutz School of Art where he classically learned to paint in oils & followed in the literal footsteps of great painters such as Van Gogh & Cezanne. With a minor in Fine Arts & a pending commission in the US Army, Solovey's five-year plan was to later pursue an architectural career post-service.​
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Solovey found himself back in Germany quickly followed by his first deployment to Bosnia in 1998. With his contractual obligations soon-to-be completed, he took a final assignment to Ft. Benning, Georgia. With discharge paperwork nearly completed, 9/11 took the Nation by surprise. Solovey pulled his paperwork and joined Special Forces; unbeknownst to him, this decision would lead to a 30-year military career consisting of ten combat deployments between Afghanistan, Kuwait, Iraq, & Syria. The die was cast, but with an unintentionally-planned second career of primarily composing original military fine art and lithographs.
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In 1998, Solovey produced his first military lithograph for the 1st Armored Division followed by a few other projects. With the onset of the Global War on Terrorism just a few years later, demand for Solovey's work increased dramatically. So much so, that he was encouraged to apply for special duty as an official US Army artist but another Afghanistan deployment took precedence.
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Solovey’s limited-edition lithographs can often be seen in thousands of military offices & homes throughout the Nation’s Military Community both in the States and abroad. His most recent and significant work includes an historical lineage print to celebrate the 100th Anniversary for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and bespoke work for the American Rose Society. To date, his most significant work is the watercolor painting lithograph celebrating the 250th Year of the US Army officially used by the US Army Center of Military History. There are roughly 250 individual sets of limited-edition lithographs in his current portfolio with normally several more projects in the queue at any given time.
His awards include the Legion of Merit, three Bronze Stars, six Distinguished Meritorious Service Medals, four Meritorious Service Medals, and both the Joint Service Commendation & Achievement Medals. He is also the recipient of both the US Army Ordnance Samuel Sharpe & Military Intelligence Order of the Sphinx Medals.
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