Skip to content
Elmer Bischoff, the Waiting Room 1954

Installation view, Elmer Bischoff: A Survey of Paintings and Drawings, 1937-72, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Novato, CA, 2020.

Elmer Bischoff is the subject of a survey exhibition at the Marin Museum of Contemproary Art. The exhibition includes over thirty works from private and public collections that illustrate Bischoff's visual journey from abstraction to figuration, and back again, over the course of four decades. Bischoff is internationally recognized as a founder, along with Richard Diebenkorn and David Park, of what has come to be known as Bay Area Figuration. His paintings are sensual and lyrical, with marks and compositions influenced by his love of music, including New Orleans Jazz and classical music. Regardless of what he sought to capture, Bischoff was continually engaged in searching out an elusive harmony from his subjects.

Elmer Bischoff: A Survey of Paintings and Drawings, 1937-72 is part of Marin MOCA's on-going series of exhibitions exploring the work of prominent Bay-Area artists. Recent iterations have highlighted the work of artists such as Nathan Olivera and Viola Frey, among others. Opening February 29, Meghan O'Callaghan, visiting art scholar from Toronto, will present an Art Talk on Bischoff at 4pm, followed by a reception from 5-7pm. A catalog has been published in conjunction with the exhibition, featuring an essay by former Stanford Cantor Arts Center curator Hilarie Faberman. 

The exhibition is on view through May 31. More information here.

Read reviews of the exhibition in the Marin Independent Journal and Pacific Sun.