Ethel Fisher

Ethel Fisher (1923-2017) carved a distinctive path through the American art scene over seven decades. Her journey began with studies at the University of Houston and the University of Texas at Austin, under mentors such as Everett Spruce, Howard Cook, and William McVey, and continued at Washington University in St. Louis with Fred Conway. Fisher's formative years at The Art Students League of New York were under the tutelage of Morris Kantor, Robert Beverly Hale, and Will Barnet, where she honed her craft and integrated herself into the vibrant art world of New York City.

Fisher's professional career took flight in the 1950s with a style that initially embraced early modernist styles of abstraction. Her work during this period featured impressionistic elements and organic shapes that often referenced architecture; her influences ranged from European Old Masters to Pre-Columbian and Byzantine artifacts.

The early 1960s marked a pivotal shift in Fisher's career as she moved towards figurative work after a tour of Europe and a move back to New York City. Fisher's return to New York led her to win a Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award for Painting in 1965. In the 1970s, Fisher transitioned again, this time to architectural paintings, drawing from her early interest in the ornate facades of buildings she remembered from her youth in Galveston. These works, while still adhering to a certain realism, were personalized interpretations that combined remembered and invented colors with expressive brushwork.

Ethel Fisher's legacy is vast, spanning a diverse range of subjects and styles, from abstract art to portraiture and architectural paintings. Her work is held in notable collections including: The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD), the Crocker Museum of Art, the Museum of the City of New York, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, and many others.

Submitted by LewAllen Galleries