Isabel Bishop (1902 - 1988)
Painter and print maker Isabel Bishop was born in Cincinnati, Ohio to a well-to-do and highly educated family. When her parents moved to Detroit, the young artist took life drawing classes at the John Wicker Art School and, upon graduating from high school, moved to New York, where she began two years of formal study in illustration at the New York School of Applied Design for Women followed by four years of study at the Art Students League, where she studied painting under Kenneth Hayes Miller, Max Weber, among others, becoming in time the only full-time woman instructor on the ASL faculty. It was from Miller that she learned and adopted a style in the manner of baroque Flemish painting and used it to portray the everyday lives of women in New York City, based in her long-time loft near Union Square. Through her work, Bishop depicted the changing lives of women as they became more self-aware, self-confident, and autonomous.
In addition to many private collections, Bishop’s work is held by numerous institutions including The Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, Massachusetts; The Morgan Library and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D. C; and the Art Institute of Chicago. She died in New York City.
Note: Elizabeth Bishop printed virtually all of her works until 1977, when Steven Sholinsky of Stem Graphics in New York assumed this responsibility under the artist’s supervision. All such work bears Sholinsky’s double S chop mark in the lower right-hand margin, and was printed exclusively on heavy weight Rives paper.
Single Strap Hanger
Etching, 1940 (printed 1981); edition of 25. Image size 3¼” x 8-3/8”; sheet size 10” x 13-1/8”. Printed by Stephen Sholinsky; numbered XVIII / XXV and signed in pencil by the artist in the lower margin. Sholinsky’s blind stamp in lower right-hand corner of the sheet. A fine impression in fine condition.
SOLD
In The Bus
Drypoint, 1947; edition not stated. Image size 3-3/8" x 4-7/8"; sheet size 7" x 8-5/8". Published by The Miniature Print Society, Hicksville, New York. A fine impression in overall fine condition, furnished in its original presentation folder with accompanying descriptive bulletin.
SOLD
Delayed Departure
Etching, ca. 1936, printed later; edition of 50. Image size 5-11/16” x 6-13/16”; sheet size 10” x 13-1/8”. Numbered 47/50 and signed by the artist in the lower margin. Printed by Stephen Sholinsky of Stem Graphics, New York, with his blind stamp in the lower right-hand corner of the sheet. Not in Teller. A fine impression in near fine condition, with extremely faint toning in the sight area.
$750
Girl Blowing Smoke Rings
Etching, ca. 1946; edition of 25, printed later. Image size 4-15/16” x 6-7/8”; sheet size 10” x 13-1/8”. Printed by Stephen Sholinsky, Stem Graphics, New York, with his blind stamp in the lower right-hand corner of the sheet. Numbered I/XXV and signed by the artist in the lower margin. A fine impression in overall fine condition. Teller 34.
$525
Girl Getting on Soda Fountain Stool
Etching, 1959, edition of 50, printed later; image size 3-15/16” x 5-3/8”; sheet size 10” x 13-1/8”. Printed by Stephen Sholinsky of Stem Graphics, New York, with his blind stamp in the lower right-hand corner of the sheet. Numbered 50/50 and signed by the artist in the lower margin. A fine impression in overall fine condition. Teller 54.
$425
Man at Fountain
Etching, 1959; edition of 50, printed later. Image size 3-15/16” x 5-3/8”; sheet size 10” x 13-1/8”. Printed by Stephen Sholinsky of Stem Graphics, New York, with his blind stamp in the lower right-hand corner of the sheet. A fine impression in overall fine condition, numbered 50/50 and signed in pencil by the artist in the lower margin. Teller 40.
$350
Reaching for the Coat Sleeve
Etching, 1943; edition of 50, printed later by Stephen Sholinsky of Stem Graphics, New York, with his blind stamp in the lower right-hand corner of the sheet. Image size 3-15/16” x 5-13/16”; sheet size 10” x 13-1/8”. Numbered 44/50 and signed by the artist in pencil in the lower margin. A fine impression in overall fine condition. Teller 32.
$425
Strap Hangers No. 2
Etching, 1950; edition of 50, printed later by Stephen Sholinsky of Stem Graphics, New York, with his bliind stamp in the lower right-hand corner of the sheet. Image size 3” x 4-7/8”; sheet size 10” x 13-1/8”. Numbered 37/50 and signed in pencil by the artist in the lower margin. A fine impression in overall fine condition. Teller 47.
$475
The Coat
Etching, 1941; edition of 25 printed later by Stephen Sholinsky of Stem Graphics, New York, with his blind stamp in the lower right-hand corner of the sheet. Image size 4½” x 7-3/8”; sheet size 10” x 12-7/16”. Numbered XII/XXV and signed in pencil by the artist in the lower margin. A fine impression in overall fine condition. Teller 28.
$450
Two Girls Outdoors (Helping with the Veil)
Etching, 1953; edition of 50, printed later by Stephen Sholinsky of Stem Graphics, New York, with his blind stamp in the lower right-hand corner of the sheet. Image size 4-7/8” x 7-5/16”; sheet size 10” x 13-1/8”. Numbered 40/50 and signed by the artist iin pencil in the lower margin. A fine impression in overall fine condition. Teller 49.
$425