WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture

Artists›Louise Fishman

Louise Fishman

1939–2021

WA-00023923

Philadelphia, PA, USA

PaintingAbstract ArtFeminist Art

Representation

None documented

Institutional Exhibitions

Works in Collection

Assets Indexed

Authority-backed Facts

Publications Referenced

80%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (1)

WikidataQ6688739

Field Verification (6 fields)

3 cross-verified · 3 single-source

BiographyWikidata + Wikipedia· 92%✓
Birth yearWikidata + Artsy· 92%✓
Is PublishedManual· 100%✓
NationalityWikidata + Artsy· 92%
Primary mediumWikidata· 92%
Death yearWikidata· 92%

Source Registry (2)

Artsy (bulk)https://www.artsy.net/artist/louise-fishman
Tier 1 · Institutional85%
Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6688739
Tier 1 · Institutional40%

About

Why this artist matters now

Louise Fishman was an American abstract painter whose gestural, color-saturated canvases evolved from lyrical abstraction through to bold geometric compositions across five decades. Working primarily in oil and acrylic, her practice engaged with the legacy of postwar abstraction while maintaining a distinctive approach to surface, mark-making, and chromatic intensity. Her work addressed both the formal possibilities of painting and, increasingly in later decades, personal and political identity within the context of lesbian feminism and queer aesthetics.

Source: Artsy · Trust score: 85% · Updated 1mo ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

Abstract Art

Medium

Painting

Related Artists

12 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

Art Institute of Chicago Whitney Museum of American Art

Canonical record

Artworks (10)

WattsOS

Black and White Suite

2005 · spitbite aquatint

Sheet: 35.4 x 45.8 cm (13 15/16 x 18 1/16 in.); Platemark: 22.7 x 25.1 cm (8 15/16 x 9 7/8 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Black and White Suite: Black and White #2

2005 · white ground aquatint

Sheet: 35.4 x 45.8 cm (13 15/16 x 18 1/16 in.); Platemark: 22.6 x 25 cm (8 7/8 x 9 13/16 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Black and White Suite: Black and White #5

2005 · spitbite and white ground aquatint

Sheet: 35.5 x 45.8 cm (14 x 18 1/16 in.); Platemark: 27.2 x 36.7 cm (10 11/16 x 14 7/16 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Black and White Suite: Black and White #4

2005 · white ground aquatint

Sheet: 35.4 x 45.8 cm (13 15/16 x 18 1/16 in.); Platemark: 27.1 x 36.6 cm (10 11/16 x 14 7/16 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Black and White Suite: Black and White #1

2005 · spitbite aquatint

Sheet: 35.4 x 45.8 cm (13 15/16 x 18 1/16 in.); Platemark: 22.7 x 25.1 cm (8 15/16 x 9 7/8 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Black and White Suite: Black and White #3

2005 · drypoint

Sheet: 35.4 x 45.7 cm (13 15/16 x 18 in.); Platemark: 20 x 40.2 cm (7 7/8 x 15 13/16 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

UPAPATTI

2001 · Oil on linen

165.1 × 152.4 cm (65 × 60 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Iron Sharpens Iron

1993 · Oil on linen

279.4 × 177.8 cm (110 × 70 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

WattsOS

Grand Slam

1985 · Oil on canvas

56 × 40 in. (142.2 × 101.6 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

WattsOS

Untitled

1970 · Acrylic and pastel on canvas

Overall: 66 × 51 in. (167.6 × 129.5 cm)

Whitney Museum of American Art

View all 10 artworks →

Artwork sources (4)

10 published of 10 catalogued · 2 with image

Cleveland Museum of Art
6 published
Art Institute Chicago
2 published2 img
The Met
1 published
Whitney
1 published

Per-Artwork Provenance Chains (top 6)

6 entries · 1 sources

Black and White Suite: Black and White #3
2005 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Black and White Suite: Black and White #2
2005 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Black and White Suite: Black and White #5
2005 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Black and White Suite: Black and White #4
2005 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Black and White Suite: Black and White #1
2005 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Black and White Suite
2005 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number

Record

Images

Artsy

Art Institute of Chicago

Relationships

Movements2

Abstract Art Feminist Art

Collections2

Art Institute of Chicago Whitney Museum of American Art

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

Art Institute of Chicago

In collection

Whitney Museum of American Art

Record

Exhibitions and timeline

No exhibitions or timeline entries yet