Painting Collection


Elmer Bischoff

Bay

 

(1916—1991)
Bay
1960
oil on canvas
67 1/2 x 67 1/2 inches

Born and raised in Berkeley, CA, Elmer Bischoff was a member of the group known as the Bay Area Figurative artists. Starting in the 1950s, these artists, including David Park and Richard Diebenkorn, pushed back against the influence of Abstract Expressionism in their works. Instead of using purely abstract imagery, they began incorporating figures and representational subject matter into their paintings. Bischoff once likened this shift to “the end of a love affair.” Bischoff continued using certain methods of the Abstract Expressionists in his paintings, seen in his heavy paint application, flattening of space, and gestural brushwork, but the subjects are entirely different. Often working from memory, Bischoff’s figures and landscapes are both specific and still abstract, such as Bay from 1960. Measuring more than five and a half feet square, this large picture is inspired by the Bay Area but is also a glorious exploration of paint, filled with bold, almost surreal colors.


 

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