Elmer Bischoff: The Ethics of Paint

A few years ago, I discovered the paintings of the Bay Area Figurative Movement and was utterly entranced. This was a whole new area of study for me, a movement we never learned about in school (where you learn art marches in a straight line from Lascaux to Minimalism, no side treks or detours allowed). Because of the relative obscurity of the movement , it’s difficult to find good representations of these works, even online. Diebenkorn is perhaps the most well-known, but more for his nonrepresentational and landscape work in my experience…and for people like Bischoff, who even a lot of painters don’t know…forget it! And so when I found this book listed on Amazon, I knew it was a must-buy. Even if the reproductions weren’t that great, I figured, it’d be wonderful to have a good selection of Bischoff’s work to reference.Ugh. I shoulda read the reviews of this edition of the book. They warned me, but I paid no heed and instead paid for a decent essay and a terribly printed book.See…the thing that draws you to a painter like Bischoff, before all the gestural brushwork and considerations of the expression of the themes of humanity’s relationship to its surroundings, is COLOR. Look at that cover, those rich blues, oranges, pinks, yellows…how can one not be seduced by such a rich display of chromaticism?Well, with this edition of the book, you’re likely to be left with a severe case of artistic blueballs after cracking open the book to get past that gorgeous frontispiece. Because the book is printed entirely in black and white.That’s right. A book about one of the greatest colorists of the mid-century American painting scene is printed entirely in black and white.This is cruel. Landauer’s magnificent essay rhapsodizes about Bischoff’s color and even calls to attention specific passages in these paintings, calling attention to how he used color to convey meanings. And what are you given to reference? Really bad black and white reproductions. Bischoff’s paintings are still readable this way, but they have none of their power in such a desanguinate condition.Adding insult to injury, the book itself is cheaply assembled. The pages are thin and rough, the printing looks like it was done by a cheap office laserjet with a near empty toner cartridge. I’ve gotten POD books from really sketchy sellers that were more impressively put together than this.Bottom line: save your money and find either the hardcover or first paperback edition of this book. Because you’ll be hard-put to find good color representations of Bischoff’s work online; for quite a few of the more obscure paintings, I either found nothing or pictures of “student reproductions” for sale from sketchy sellers in Hong Kong and China.

To my surprise this painter was quite unknown to me, but the book fills that gap admirably, with a great range of illustrations, and a much-needed context for other artists of the time and place. The author has provided a valuable service to anyone interested in painters of this region and those he taught and influenced.

The book was received quickly, in great shape, and I love it!

Great little book about one of the most exciting figurative painters in California!

When buying an artist catalog, one hopes that at least ONE of the reproductions is in color. Everything was in black and white, unlike the original publication. The quality of this book is dismal. I have seen this catalog in its proper form before, and this is a sorry imitation.

Great

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

Very poor color reproduction that distorts the paintings. REALLY DISAPPOINTED IN THE BOOK.

A great and beautiful book.

It is an excellent book on the figurative painters of the 50's and 60's in the San Francisco area. The illustrations are magnificent. The text by Susan Landauer is well written and researched. All and all it is an enjoyable and informative book on an artist who marked his generation with David Park and Richard Diebenkorn during the era of abstract expressioinism.

Very efficient and relatable.

This is a fine monograph on Bischoff who was one of that important group of artists centred around San Francisco`s Bay Area at the beginning of Abstract Expressionism, later developing a form of Figurative Expressionism that has increasingly become recognised as an influential and vibrant parallel movement to the prevailing trends in modern American painting of that time.The book is very well illustrated with 100 full-colour plates and 66 black and white illustrations. I can`t comment on the accuracy of the reproductions, as there are no paintings by Bischoff in UK public collections to make comparisons with – I`m just pleased to have any collection of his work to refer to.The text covers all aspects of Bischoff`s career, his friendships and associations with artists such as Hassel Smith, David Park, Richard Diebenkorn, etc., and his development as an artist as he moved between figuration and abstraction at different point in his working life.Bischoff was an inspiring painter and teacher, a far more important figure than he's been given credit for and the availability of this authoritative volume by Susan Landauer should help bring his status up to a more prominent level.

really like this book -I am a fan of the Bay Area painters and have a couple of others on Diebenkorn and the Bay Area. This book really gives a good feel for Bishoffs life and work. The reproductions are excellent and all the key works are there -Im not a big fan of his later work, but it is an interesting turn-to his career and the book i guess, especially when you compare him to Diebenkorn who also slipped back into abstraction in his later years but in a much more 'modern' sense.