Elmer Bischoff: The Ethics of PaintElmer Bischoff (1916–1991) is generally regarded as one of the leaders among the artists in the San Francisco Bay Area who, after contributing to the local emergence of Abstract Expressionism during the 1940s and 50s, shifted the terms of their spectacularly sensuous brushwork to recognizable imagery. Bill Berkson writes that if "David Park was the classicist of the founding triad of the Bay Area Figurative painters, and Richard Diebenkorn the modernist, Bischoff was the romantic." Designed to accompany a major retrospective of Bischoff's work, this superb volume is lavishly illustrated with duotones and color plates that faithfully capture the subtle variations in shade that characterize the painter's oeuvre. Berkson and Susan Landauer, both of whom knew Bischoff, provide the definitive view of the life, art, and teaching career of this important artist. Native to the Bay Area, Bischoff studied at the University of California under the "Berkeley School" modernists Worth Ryder, Erle Loran, and Margaret Peterson. His experience during World War II profoundly affected his view of the world and his place in it. In 1946, Bischoff joined the faculty of the California School of Fine Arts where--with colleagues Edward Corbett, Richard Diebenkorn, Claire Falkenstein, David Park, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko, Hassel Smith, and Clyfford Still--he found himself at the hub of avant-garde expression in the Bay Area. Throughout his career, Bischoff applied his visual intelligence and unusual personal integrity in creating a uniquely varied body of work that invites our investigation. Having interviewed many of the artist's surviving colleagues and family members, Landauer offers valuable primary documentation on Bischoff, the Bay Area Figurative School, and the cultural history of the Northern California art scene. Her lively text is supported with insightful research into the social and political background of the period. She considers Bischoff's career in relation to the European artists who influenced him, his interactions with his local contemporaries, and his reactions to the New York art scene. A useful chronology of the artist's life, a bibliography, and documentary photographs that Landauer uncovered during her research make this volume an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the artistic vision of Elmer Bischoff. |
Contents
THE SEARCHER | 3 |
BY BILL BERKSON | 12 |
ONE BEGINNINGS | 13 |
TWO THE ETHICS OF PAINT | 29 |
THREE RETURN TO THE FIGURE | 61 |
FOUR CONTROVERSY AND SUCCESS | 91 |
FIVE THE BERKELEY YEARS | 125 |
NOTES | 159 |
| 206 | |
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Common terms and phrases
Abstract Expressionism abstract expressionist Acrylic on canvas Adelie Bischoff Adelie Landis Bischoff aesthetic American Art Angeles Area Figurative Art Area Figurative Painting artists Bay Area Figurative Berkeley Bill Berkson Bischoff's paintings California School cisco Clyfford Collection of Adelie color conversation courtesy of John CSFA David Park December Elmer Bischoff Erle Loran Figurative Art Francisco Art Institute Hassel Smith Hofmann interview by Karlstrom interview by Maurice Joan Brown John Berggruen Gallery John Bischoff Karl Kasten Klein Landauer Landscape late later Lee Fatherree Loran MacAgy Mark Rothko Marysville Maurice Tuchman Modern Art modernist Museum of Art Museum of Modern November nude Oakland Museum Oil on canvas painter Park's Paul Mills Paul Wonner Photographer unknown Picasso quoted recalled Richard Diebenkorn Robert San Fran San Francisco Art San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco Museum San Francisco School Still's student studio Susan Landauer Theophilus Brown Thomas Albright tion University of California Untitled Wonner York