Isabel Bishop Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Bishop, Isabel (American 1902-1988). STUDY FOR "IN FRONT OF THE 42D STREET LIBRARY." Drawing, pencil on paper, circa 1927. Initialed in pencil, lower right. 3 1/2 x 3 1/4 inches (ima...

Bishop, Isabel (American 1902-1988). THE WALL AT UNION SQUARE Drawing, pencil on paper, not dated. Signed in pencil, lower right. 4 x 5 inches (main image), 7 7/8 x 7 1/2 inches (she...

Bishop, Isabel. UNTITLED (WOMAN LOOKING IN PURSE). Ink on cardstock, not dated. Unsigned. 5 x 5 inches. A fast, likely unposed sketch of a passerby. In excellent condition. Isabel Bishop, 1902-1988. Isabel Bishop was born and raised in the Midwest. She came to New York in 1918 where she studied at the New York School of Applied Design for Women and the Art Students League, where her teachers included Kenneth Hayes Miller and Guy Pene du Bois. In 1934 she rented a studio in Union Square where she worked for the remainder of her career, often taking as her subjects the men and women who worked in the shops and offices on the square, or who walked or sat in Union Square Park. She was a great draughtsman, and much of her graphic work is devoted to studies of the human figure in motion or at rest within the context of their activities in Union Square or similar settings. Bishop made etchings throughout her career, producing more than 80 prints between 1925 and 1982. Prior to 1978 Bishop had editoned only a few of her prints; most of them were printed on an “as needed” basis only, by her, on her own press as gifts, or for sale. From 1978 on, Bishop collaborated with Sylvan Cole of Associated American Artists and the master printer Stephen Sholinsky...