On July 26th of this year, the art world lost a major figure in the world of Abstract Expressionism. Her name is Louise Fishman and her work puts her not only in the league of the male heavy-hitters of her day, but went steps beyond in subtle and profound ways.
Born in 1939 in Philadelphia, where her mother and aunt were both artists, she quickly fell into line with such familial passions. She earned her M.F.A. from the University of Illinois, Champaign. Moving to New York, she envisioned meeting and working with other Abstract Expressionists but discovered “there was no place for me. I wasn’t going to be sleeping with Milton Resnick or any of those guys for passion, for love, or to become an artist.” (https://www.artforum.com/intereviews/louise-fishman-discussses-her-life-in-art-and-two-new-exhibitions-58896 ) Instead, she became an ardent feminist, subsequently involving herself in the lesbian movement.
Louise Fishman, Ristretto, 2013. Oil on linen, 70 x 60 in. (177.8 x 152.4 cm). Private collection; courtesy Cheim & Read, New York
Identifying as a “queer Jewish feminist” she put an indelible stamp on her canvases, showing how a gestural paint stroke could be intimately connected to one’s identity. Her series of “angry” paintings in the 1970s are a perfect example, featuring dark backgrounds highlighted with the names of women she felt were angry with modern society: Angry Louise (Fishman), Angry Gertrude (Stein), and Angry Marilyn (Monroe). This was in direct opposition to a male style predicated on no references to one’s personal emotions or lifestyle.
