Oral history interview with Elmer Bischoff
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded 3 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 5 hr., 24 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Bischoff, Elmer, 1916-1991
label: Interviewer
content: Karlstrom, Paul J.
label: Names
content: San Francisco Art Institute
label: Names
content: University of California, San Francisco. School of Fine Arts
label: Names
content: Brown, Joan, 1938-1990
label: Names
content: Brown, William Theo, 1919-2012
label: Names
content: Geis, Bill
label: Names
content: Hudson, Robert, 1938-
label: Names
content: MacAgy, Douglas, 1913-
label: Names
content: Neri, Manuel, 1930-
label: Names
content: Park, David, 1911-1960
label: Names
content: Smith, Hassel, 1915-2007
label: Names
content: Spohn, Clay Edgar, 1898-1977
label: Names
content: Still, Clyfford, 1904-1980
label: Names
content: Wiley, William T., 1937-2021
topic: label: Topic
content: Art, American
label: Topic
content: Abstract expressionism
label: Topic
content: Figurative art
label: Topic
content: Painters -- California -- Interviews
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: These interviews are part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Bischoff, Elmer, 1916-1991
label: Interviewer
content: Karlstrom, Paul J.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Elmer Bischoff (1916-1991) was a painter and educator from San Francisco, California.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 82 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1977 August 10-September 1
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.bischo77
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Elmer Bischoff conducted 1977 August 10-September 1, by Paul J. Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Bischoff speaks of his family background; the influence of art teachers and attitudes at the University of California, Berkeley in the 1930s; his years of teaching at the California School of Fine Arts (San Francisco Art Institute), first under the directorship of Douglas MacAgy and then under Ernst Mundt and Gurdon Woods; his fellow faculty members Clyfford Still, David Park, Clay Spohn and Hassel Smith, and their work in abstract expressionism. He recalls some of his most successful students, including Joan Brown, Manuel Neri, and William T. Wiley.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Bischoff explains his turning away from abstract expressionism toward figurative painting, and cites the influence of David Park. He credits George Staempfli as the first New York art dealer to be interested in Bay Area figurative painting. He discusses the origins of the Bay Area funk movement. He speaks of teaching at the University of California, Berkeley, and reflects on the differences between teaching in a university environment and an art school. He discusses his move away from the figure to large scale abstraction.