Customer Reviews

Elmer Bischoff: The Ethics of Paint

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Elmer Bischoff (1916 - 1991) will always be regarded as one of the more important artists from the San Francisco Bay Area. Along with Richard Diebenkorn and David Park he started his painting career as an abstract painter and then subsequently turned to figurative art. That progression has always seemed against the grain of artist development, as most artists begin drawing from the object and then gradually abstract those forms until the object itself is lost. Bischoff's form of abstraction falls into the category of abstract expressionism and so it should not be surprising that he should turn the passion of his painterly strokes into the expression of the landscape and the figure.

This very fine book by Susan Landauer is a generously illustrated monograph that pays homage to the importance of the works and life of Elmer Bischoff. After a terse but perceptive Introduction by Bill Berkson, Landauer takes on not only the art milieu of the an Francisco Bay region but also supplants that information with a quality survey of life as it was lived in the Bay Area from 1940 to 1990 - a fine sociology overview that is as interesting to the reader as is the astute examination of the works of the artist. Her perception and description of Bishoff's canvases and drawings is exceptional. This is a monograph that not only is highly entertaining and educational as an art history book but is equally as entertaining a read as a novel! The color reproductions are strong and the transition between abstraction and representation is particularly astute. This book is without peer as a monograph and as a source of information about one of America's less celebrated artists. Grady Harp, November 2010

poor reproductions better off buying the "bay area figurative art" this is a much better bang for ur buck