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Isabel Bishop, 1902-1988
Born Cincinnati, Ohio
Isabel Bishop moved to New York City in 1918 to work as an illustrator and was immediately captivated by the population's energy. From her studio in Union Square, she observed the everyday comings and goings of shop girls and laborers on Fourteenth Street and recorded her subjects in a style that is at once starkly realistic and sympathetic. Her career spanned several decades, and her paintings cover such historic events as the Great Depression and the student war protests. Bishop was the first woman to hold a full-time teaching position at the Art Students League (1936– 1937) and the first to be appointed to an executive position at the National Institute of Arts and Letters (1946). This portrait is one of several caricatures of artists by Isabella Howland, who often crossed paths with Bishop. Both studied at the Art Students League, and both exhibited at some of the same places, such as the Whitney Studio Club.
Isabella Howland, c 1945-50 |