| Bay Area Figurative Movement - The Concept | | | | affiliation to the huge flat plains of very appealing |
| Bay Area Figurative Painting was a variation, | | | | deep colors that depicted the landscapes of |
| which a handful of Abstract artists in the San | | | | Northern California. Figurative painters |
| Francisco Bay Area exhibited. They embraced the | | | | concentrated on forms from impasto patches of |
| impetuosity of Abstract Expressionism, replacing | | | | brilliant paint in plain, nondescript landscapes. In |
| the redundant abstraction for figurative human | | | | fact, except the color, everything in the paintings |
| images. Initiated to stage an individual and | | | | used to be nuanced. Thick brushstrokes, coupled |
| dramatic defection from the established technique | | | | with contrasted paint, helped them to set apart |
| of Abstract Expressionism, this new approach of | | | | figures and backdrops, into rectilinear geometries. |
| intentionally raw figuration during mid-twentieth | | | | Lonely figures were placed alongside the |
| century, shaped a new art form called the Bay | | | | abstracted backdrops, to no longer possess an |
| Area Figurative Movement, also famous as Bay | | | | animated thought or emotion. Their figures tended |
| Area Figurative School, Bay Area Figurative Art, | | | | toward flat, partially abstract forms nevertheless |
| and Bay Area Figuration. | | | | and instead of taking the central role in a painting, |
| The History | | | | were carefully integrated with other elements in |
| About 60 years ago, in 1950s, an artistic | | | | the composition. |
| earthquake shook the then existing abstract | | | | The Artists |
| tendencies, when the American painter David Park | | | | Spanning two decades, 1950s-60s, the Bay Area |
| (1911-60) submitted a small figurative canvas for | | | | Figurative Movement is broken down into the |
| a competitive exhibition and claimed the trophy. | | | | three generations:o First Generation - Many of |
| Among those in the early group to follow Parks | | | | these painters, such as David Park, Richard |
| were Elmer Bischoff (1916-91), Richard Diebenkorn | | | | Diebenkorn, Elmer Bischoff, Wayne Thiebaud |
| (1922-93), and James Weeks (1922-98). | | | | (born 1920), and James Weeks, were fond of |
| The Bay Area artists returned to representing | | | | Abstract Expressionism.o Bridge Generation - It |
| human figures at a time when Abstract | | | | included Nathan Oliveira (born 1928), Theophilus |
| Expressionism dominated the art world. Their | | | | Brown (born 1919), Paul John Wonner |
| artworks were neither intransigent nor purely | | | | (1920-2008), Roland Petersen (born 1926), and |
| illustrational. They stepped into figuration with a | | | | Frank Lobdell (born 1921).o Second Generation - |
| considerate understanding of abstraction and a | | | | These artists were Bruce McGaw (born 1935), |
| profound interest for the Abstract achievements. | | | | Henry Villierme (born 1928), Joan Brown |
| The Details | | | | (1938-90), and Manuel Neri (born 1930). |
| The entire lot of the Figurative artists shared an | | | | |