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16
ISABEL BISHOP
1902-

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Isabel Bishop was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1902. She spent her childhood in Detroit where she began her studies in art. At the age of 15, she moved to New York City for further study and remained there. She did study in art museums in Europe; the influence of the old masters of art is visible in her work.

Miss Bishop paints common people--two girls in a subway, a girl eating ice cream, an old man leaning over to pick up a cigar butt.  But she is best known for her paintings of everyday working girls--girls that she can see from the window of her studio in Union Square.  She paints their "life" and their "looks" with sensitivity and understanding.  She says, "I try to paint the people who are trivial outside and show that they are decent and good inside."

Groups of people--moving people--have also been favorite subjects for Miss Bishop's paintings.  They are not posed, but instead, they show life and movement.  In "Young People", "Campus Students", and "High School Students", the young bodies with their crude sturdy legs, show a hint of the abstract quality.  They are walking and turning toward and away from each other.  The figures are outlined in black on a pale grayish paper, and are set against a hazy background with masses of shaded washes.  The figures take up the whole page.

Miss Bishop's paintings are usually done in mixed media, combining soft lighting and shadows that show the influence of the old Flemish and Dutch painters.  She considers form, space, and light important considerations in her works.  Her paintings are delicate in color and tone, but they show excellent structure and design.

Isabel Bishop is not a prolific painter, yet she has had continuous showings in New York since 1932 and has exhibited widely throughout the United States.