He first exhibited at the RBA in 1884, the subject being Portrait Sketch. Reviewing the 169th Exhibition The Times (26 March 1928) wrote:
“His election to the office is, indeed, matter for congratulation, and with his technical soundness and extremely tolerant attitude towards artistic ideals quite different from his own he should call out the best of which the society is capable. Whistler was too flippant for native prejudice, Sir Alfred East too decorative, and the late Mr. Solomon J. Solomon, though he set a good standard in oil painting of the seductive kind, was not sufficiently aware of the time of day”.