Three Figures 1946

Elmer Bischoff made this painting, Three Figures, with oil on canvas, and you can almost feel him working it out, shifting these pale, ghostly forms around. I love the way the figures emerge from this murky, warm background, like memories half-formed. I imagine Bischoff trying to pin down these shapes, coaxing them into being with thin washes of color. See that squiggle on the left-hand figure? It’s like a little thought bubble, a question mark hanging in the air. What I really like about Bischoff is that he allows space for doubt, for something unresolved. This piece reminds me of some of Gorky's surrealist forms. Ultimately painting is a conversation across time. Each artist builds on the discoveries and questions of those who came before, finding their own way to express something ineffable, something hovering just beyond the edge of language.