Susan Schwalb
Encyclopedia
Susan Schwalb is a contemporary silverpoint
artist. She was born in New York City
(1944), graduated from the High School of Music & Art (1961), and has a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University
(1965). She married the composer Martin Boykan
in 1983 and currently lives and works in New York City.
(1965). In 1983 she married composer Martin Boykan
and works from her Manhattan
studio. Her work blends the mediums of drawing and painting. She is a leader in the use of silverpoint
in contemporary art.
drawing in America. Most of the contemporary artists who draw with a metal stylus continue the tradition of Leonardo da Vinci
and Albrecht Dürer
by using the soft, delicate line for figurative imagery. By contrast, Schwalb’s work is abstract, and her handling of the technique is innovative. In some works, paper is torn and burned to provide loose uncontrolled contrast to the precise linearity of silverpoint. In others, silverpoint is combined with flat expanses of acrylic paint or gold leaf. Subtle shifts of tone and color are evident from the juxtaposition of a different types of metal. In more recent works, Schwalb has abandoned the silverpoint stylus in favor of wide metal bands that achieve a shimmering atmosphere reminiscent of watercolor paintings.
Memories of light have been a recurrent source for her work. Travels to Arizona
and New Mexico
suggest some of the colors and shapes in the painting series called “Mesa”, and other works are influenced by light on the Hudson River
as viewed from her studio on the West Side
of Manhattan. Visits to artist colonies such as the MacDowell Colony
, Yaddo
and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts
have also provided a backdrop to influence her work.
Schwalb’s oeuvre ranges from drawings on paper to artist books and paintings on canvas or wood panels. Many of these panels are carefully beveled so that the imagery seems to float off the wall. Her work is represented in major public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art
, New York, the National Gallery
, Washington D.C., the British Museum
, London, the Brooklyn Museum
, New York, the Fogg Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Kupferstichkabinett
- Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany, the Victoria and Albert Museum
, London, England, the Ashmolean Museum
, Oxford, England, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, the Achenbach Foundation of Graphic Arts, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Library of Congress
, Washington, DC, the Rose Art Museum
, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, the Yale University Art Gallery
, New Haven, Connecticut, the Rhode Island School of Design
Museum of Art, Providence, Rhode Island, and the Arkansas Arts Center
, Little Rock, Arkansas.
, are in the collections of the Library of Congress
, MOMA
, the Victoria and Albert Museum
, London, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
, Athenaeum Music and Arts Library, La Jolla, California, National Museum of Women in the Arts
, Washington, D.C., and the Houghton Library
at Harvard University
.
Silverpoint
Silverpoint is a traditional drawing technique first used by Medieval scribes on manuscripts.-History:A silverpoint drawing is made by dragging a silver rod or wire across a surface, often prepared with gesso or primer. Silverpoint is one of several types of metalpoint used by scribes, craftsmen...
artist. She was born in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
(1944), graduated from the High School of Music & Art (1961), and has a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
(1965). She married the composer Martin Boykan
Martin Boykan
Martin Boykan was born on April 12, 1931 in New York City. He is an American composer known for his chamber music as well as music for larger ensembles. He married the silverpoint artist Susan Schwalb in 1983.-Biography:...
in 1983 and currently lives and works in New York City.
Background
Schwalb was born in born in New York City (1944), graduated from the High School of Music & Art (1961), and holds a BFA from Carnegie Mellon UniversityCarnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
(1965). In 1983 she married composer Martin Boykan
Martin Boykan
Martin Boykan was born on April 12, 1931 in New York City. He is an American composer known for his chamber music as well as music for larger ensembles. He married the silverpoint artist Susan Schwalb in 1983.-Biography:...
and works from her Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
studio. Her work blends the mediums of drawing and painting. She is a leader in the use of silverpoint
Silverpoint
Silverpoint is a traditional drawing technique first used by Medieval scribes on manuscripts.-History:A silverpoint drawing is made by dragging a silver rod or wire across a surface, often prepared with gesso or primer. Silverpoint is one of several types of metalpoint used by scribes, craftsmen...
in contemporary art.
Style
Susan Schwalb is one of the foremost figures in the revival of the ancient technique of silverpointSilverpoint
Silverpoint is a traditional drawing technique first used by Medieval scribes on manuscripts.-History:A silverpoint drawing is made by dragging a silver rod or wire across a surface, often prepared with gesso or primer. Silverpoint is one of several types of metalpoint used by scribes, craftsmen...
drawing in America. Most of the contemporary artists who draw with a metal stylus continue the tradition of Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
and Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer was a German painter, printmaker, engraver, mathematician, and theorist from Nuremberg. His prints established his reputation across Europe when he was still in his twenties, and he has been conventionally regarded as the greatest artist of the Northern Renaissance ever since...
by using the soft, delicate line for figurative imagery. By contrast, Schwalb’s work is abstract, and her handling of the technique is innovative. In some works, paper is torn and burned to provide loose uncontrolled contrast to the precise linearity of silverpoint. In others, silverpoint is combined with flat expanses of acrylic paint or gold leaf. Subtle shifts of tone and color are evident from the juxtaposition of a different types of metal. In more recent works, Schwalb has abandoned the silverpoint stylus in favor of wide metal bands that achieve a shimmering atmosphere reminiscent of watercolor paintings.
Memories of light have been a recurrent source for her work. Travels to Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
and New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
suggest some of the colors and shapes in the painting series called “Mesa”, and other works are influenced by light on the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
as viewed from her studio on the West Side
West Side (Manhattan)
The West Side of Manhattan refers to the side of Manhattan Island which abuts the Hudson River and faces New Jersey. Fifth Avenue, Central Park, and lower Broadway separate it from the East Side. The major neighborhoods on the West Side are West Harlem, Morningside Heights, Manhattan Valley, Upper...
of Manhattan. Visits to artist colonies such as the MacDowell Colony
MacDowell Colony
The MacDowell Colony is an art colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, U.S.A., founded in 1907 by Marian MacDowell, pianist and wife of composer Edward MacDowell. She established the institution and its endowment chiefly with donated funds...
, Yaddo
Yaddo
Yaddo is an artists' community located on a 400 acre estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment."...
and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts
Virginia Center for the Creative Arts
The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts is an artists’ community in Amherst, Virginia, USA. Since 1971, VCCA has offered residencies of two weeks to two months for international artists, writers, and composers at its working retreat in the foothills of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains...
have also provided a backdrop to influence her work.
Schwalb’s oeuvre ranges from drawings on paper to artist books and paintings on canvas or wood panels. Many of these panels are carefully beveled so that the imagery seems to float off the wall. Her work is represented in major public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, New York, the National Gallery
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
, Washington D.C., the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
, London, the Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is an encyclopedia art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At 560,000 square feet, the museum holds New York City's second largest art collection with roughly 1.5 million works....
, New York, the Fogg Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Kupferstichkabinett
Kupferstichkabinett Berlin
The Kupferstichkabinett, or Museum of Prints and Drawings, is a prints museum in Berlin, Germany. It is part of the Berlin State Museums, and is located in the Kulturforum on Potsdamer Platz...
- Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany, the Victoria and Albert Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
, London, England, the Ashmolean Museum
Ashmolean Museum
The Ashmolean Museum on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is the world's first university museum...
, Oxford, England, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, the Achenbach Foundation of Graphic Arts, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
, Washington, DC, the Rose Art Museum
Rose Art Museum
The Rose Art Museum, founded in 1961, is a part of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, USA. Named after benefactors Edward and Bertha Rose, it offers temporary exhibitions, and it displays and houses works of art from the Brandeis University art collections...
, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, the Yale University Art Gallery
Yale University Art Gallery
The Yale University Art Gallery houses a significant and encyclopedic collection of art in several buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Although it embraces all cultures and periods, the Gallery possesses especially renowned collections of early Italian painting,...
, New Haven, Connecticut, the Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design is a fine arts and design college located in Providence, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1877. Located at the base of College Hill, the RISD campus is contiguous with the Brown University campus. The two institutions share social, academic, and community resources and...
Museum of Art, Providence, Rhode Island, and the Arkansas Arts Center
Arkansas Arts Center
One of the leading cultural institutions in the state, the Arkansas Arts Center is located on the corner of 9th and Commerce streets in MacArthur Park, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA. The Arkansas Arts Center was founded in 1960, but the idea began in 1914, when the Fine Arts Club of Arkansas formed...
, Little Rock, Arkansas.
Artist books
Schwalb’s artist’s books, often done in collaboration with the composer Martin BoykanMartin Boykan
Martin Boykan was born on April 12, 1931 in New York City. He is an American composer known for his chamber music as well as music for larger ensembles. He married the silverpoint artist Susan Schwalb in 1983.-Biography:...
, are in the collections of the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
, MOMA
Moma
Moma may refer to:* Moma , an owlet moth genus* Moma Airport, a Russian public airport* Moma District, Nampula, Mozambique* Moma River, a right tributary of the Indigirka River* Google Moma, the Google corporate intranet...
, the Victoria and Albert Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
, London, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States, attracting over one million visitors a year. It contains over 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas...
, Athenaeum Music and Arts Library, La Jolla, California, National Museum of Women in the Arts
National Museum of Women in the Arts
The National Museum of Women in the Arts , located in Washington, D.C. is the only museum solely dedicated to celebrating women’s achievements in the visual, performing, and literary arts. NMWA was incorporated in 1981 by Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay...
, Washington, D.C., and the Houghton Library
Houghton Library
Houghton Library is the primary repository for rare books and manuscripts at Harvard University. It is part of the Harvard College Library within the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Houghton is located on the south side of Harvard Yard, next to Widener Library.- History :Harvard's first...
at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
.
Further reading
- Beck-Friedman, Tova, November 2005, "Susan Schwalb: Drawn in Metal", The New York Art World
- Broude, Norma and Garrard, Mary (ed), (1994), “The Power of Feminist Art: The American Movement of the 1970s, History and Impact,” Harry Abrams
- Cohen, Joyce, August/September 1996, "Galaxies and Other Matter and Intervals", Art New England
- Earley, Sandra, 9 September 1985, "Art: The Siren Song of Silverpoint", The Wall Street Journal
- Eshoo, Amy, 560 Broadway- A New York Drawing Collection at Work, 1991–2006, Yale University Press, 2007
- Faxon, Alicia, Susan Schwalb: Moments of Resonance, Art New England, June/July ’99
- Faxon, Alicia, Drawing: Line or Image, New Art Examiner, 1/90
- Faxon, Alicia and Moore, Sylvia, Pilgrims and Pioneers: New England Women in the Arts, Midmarch Arts Books, 1987
- Glueck, Grace, Imagery from the Jewish Consciousness, The New York Times, 6/6/82
- Harrison, Helen A., Contemporary Metalpoint Drawings, The New York Times, 4/3/94
- Heller, Jules and Nancy G., American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century, Garland Publishing Co., 1995
- Kohen, Helen L., Silverpoint Makes for Golden Exhibit, The Miami Herald, 4/21/85
- Langdon, Ann, The Creation Series, Art New England, December 1992 / January 1993
- Langer, Cassandra, The Creation Series: 15 Years of Silverpoint, Women Artists News, Fall 1990
- Mandel, Elizabeth, Intricate Enigma: a look at silverpoint, then and now, ArtsEditor.com, 1/25/2010
- Marter, Joan, Susan Schwalb, Womanart, Winter ’77-’78
- Mathews-Berenson, Margaret, The Light Touch, American Artist Drawing, Spring, 2004
- McQuaid, Cate, Public Eyes; Light Grids; Gallery on the MBTA, The Boston Globe, 3/4/99
- McQuaid, Cate, Natural Deceptions; Rejoicing Stars, Boston Globe, 5/2/96
- Miller, Lynn and Swenson, Sally, Lives and Works, Talks with Women Artists, Scarecrow Press, 1981
- Orenstein, Gloria, Feman Vision and Visibility: Contemporary Jewish Women Artists Visualize the Invisible, Femspec, Vol.4 Issue 2, Lexington Press, 2004
- Schwendenwien, Jude, From Religious Symbols to Detailed Abstractions, The Hartford Courant, 10/25/92
- Soltes, Ori Z., Fixing the World: Jewish American Painters in the Twentieth Century, Brandeis University Press/University Press of New England, 2003
- Soltes, Ori Z., Heilige Zeichen, Parthas Verlag, Berlin, Germany, 2007
- Temin, Christine, Silverpoint’s Delicate Power, The Boston Globe, 11/14/85
- Walentini, Joseph Susan Schwalb, Abstract Art Online Vol. VI, No. 3 (www.abartonline.com), 12/4/03
- Waterman, Jill, Delicate Understandings, ArtsMedia, 6/15- 7/15/00
- Nashim: A Journal of Jewish Women’s Studies & Gender, Fall, Number 16, 2008