Sandra Fisher
Encyclopedia
Sandra Fisher a successful London-based American painter, was born in New York City on 6 May 1947, grew up in Florida and California, and died suddenly of a cerebral aneurysm at the National Hospital for Nervous Disorders in London on 19 September 1994, aged 47.
She studied minimalist art and sculpture at the California Institute of the Arts
in the 1960s where she gained a BFA from the Chouinard Art Institute
, but soon recognised that her compelling ambition was to be an intimate, observational painter, always completing a picture in one session.
In 1970 while working at Gemini G.E.L.
with the American printmaker Ken Tyler
in Los Angeles, she met fellow artist R B Kitaj, 15 years her senior, and followed him to England in 1971 where they eventually married in 1983. They had one son Max in 1984 and she also became mother to her two stepchildren.
After her death Kitaj was to write: "She came into my life in 1970 as a passionate Jewishness began to form crazily in me. She seemed like a shining California miracle of new-old Jewish womanhood invented in the Diaspora.".
Fisher was a lively, welcome figure at the heart of London's art community, also enjoying popularity with London commuters (1989–91) for her posters designed for London Transport's Art on the Underground series, notably her colourful, languid image Boating in Regent's Park for the Days on Water poster.
Writing for The Guardian
in 2008 Germaine Greer
noted that: "Sandra Fisher survives in her husband's writing not as a fellow painter, but as Shekhina, the female aspect of the deity of the Kabbalah with whom he seeks union. But Fisher was not divine; she was very, very human. She was one of the first women painters to succeed in painting the male nude as an object of desire. Her boys lie spread-eagled on tumbled sheets, their flushed skin bathed in the golden luminosity of summer afternoons."
At the time of her death she was working on a commissioned series of Shakespearean images for the Globe Theatre
on Bankside. Her last exhibition was at the Lefevre Gallery in London in 1993.
In 2006 an exhibition of Sandra Fisher's work as well as portraits of her by other artists was held at the New York Studio School.
She studied minimalist art and sculpture at the California Institute of the Arts
California Institute of the Arts
The California Institute of the Arts, commonly referred to as CalArts, is located in Valencia, in Los Angeles County, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the United States created specifically for students of both the visual and the...
in the 1960s where she gained a BFA from the Chouinard Art Institute
Chouinard Art Institute
The Chouinard Art Institute was a professional art school founded in 1921 in Los Angeles, California, by Nelbert Murphy Chouinard .-Founder:...
, but soon recognised that her compelling ambition was to be an intimate, observational painter, always completing a picture in one session.
In 1970 while working at Gemini G.E.L.
Gemini G.E.L.
Gemini G.E.L. is an artists‘ workshop and publisher of limited edition prints and sculptures in Los Angeles, CA.Gemini has collaborated with artists such as Robert Rauschenberg, Isamu Noguchi, Robert Motherwell, Roy Lichtenstein, Willem de Kooning, Claes Oldenburg, and Ed Ruscha, among many others,...
with the American printmaker Ken Tyler
Kenneth E. Tyler
Kenneth E. Tyler is a master printer, publisher, arts educator and a prominent figure in the American post-war revival of fine art, limited edition printmaking. Tyler established leading print workshops and publishing houses on both West and East coasts of the United States and made several...
in Los Angeles, she met fellow artist R B Kitaj, 15 years her senior, and followed him to England in 1971 where they eventually married in 1983. They had one son Max in 1984 and she also became mother to her two stepchildren.
After her death Kitaj was to write: "She came into my life in 1970 as a passionate Jewishness began to form crazily in me. She seemed like a shining California miracle of new-old Jewish womanhood invented in the Diaspora.".
Fisher was a lively, welcome figure at the heart of London's art community, also enjoying popularity with London commuters (1989–91) for her posters designed for London Transport's Art on the Underground series, notably her colourful, languid image Boating in Regent's Park for the Days on Water poster.
Writing for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
in 2008 Germaine Greer
Germaine Greer
Germaine Greer is an Australian writer, academic, journalist and scholar of early modern English literature, widely regarded as one of the most significant feminist voices of the later 20th century....
noted that: "Sandra Fisher survives in her husband's writing not as a fellow painter, but as Shekhina, the female aspect of the deity of the Kabbalah with whom he seeks union. But Fisher was not divine; she was very, very human. She was one of the first women painters to succeed in painting the male nude as an object of desire. Her boys lie spread-eagled on tumbled sheets, their flushed skin bathed in the golden luminosity of summer afternoons."
At the time of her death she was working on a commissioned series of Shakespearean images for the Globe Theatre
Shakespeare's Globe
Shakespeare's Globe is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse in the London Borough of Southwark, located on the south bank of the River Thames, but destroyed by fire in 1613, rebuilt 1614 then demolished in 1644. The modern reconstruction is an academic best guess, based...
on Bankside. Her last exhibition was at the Lefevre Gallery in London in 1993.
In 2006 an exhibition of Sandra Fisher's work as well as portraits of her by other artists was held at the New York Studio School.
Books
Three books with the poet, Thomas Meyer:- Sappho, Coracle Press, London, 1982;
- Sonnets & Tableaux, Coracle Press, London, 1987;
- Monotypes & Tracings/German Romantics, Enitharmon Press, London, 1993.
External links
- 'An American Abroad: Sandra Fisher and her School of London friends', New York Studio School exhibition (2006)
- Enitharmon PressEnitharmon PressEnitharmon Press is an independent British publishing house specialising in poetry.The name of the press comes from the poetry of William Blake: Enitharmon was a character who represented spiritual beauty and poetic inspiration. The press's logo "derives from a Blake woodcut".-History:The Press was...
, Sandra Fisher's three monotype collaborations with the poet Thomas Meyer http://www.enitharmon.co.uk/pages/store/products/ec_view.asp?PID=172 - * ArtnetArtnetartnet is an online service provider for the international art market with headquarters in New York, Berlin and Paris. Additionally, artnet has regional offices in China, the UK and Russia.- Business model :...
, auction results: Two nudes by Sandra Fisher http://www.artnet.com/artist/690318/sandra-fisher.html - Illustrated note by John Goodrich for the NYSS 2006 exhibition, An American Abroad: Sandra Fisher and Her School of London Friends http://artcritical.com/goodrich/JGFisher.htm
- Sandra Fisher archive UCLA