Sheila Isham

Art Brokerage: Sheila Isham American Artist: b. 1927. Sheila Eaton Isham (b. 1927, New York City) is an American artist whose color abstractions draw on a wide range of cultural formations—from twentieth-century European avant-garde approaches to Washington Color School techniques; from ancient Chinese calligraphy, philosophy, and poetry, to Haitian animism and modes of Hindu and Buddhist tantric practices. She has spent the later years of her career splitting time between New York City and Sagaponack, New York. After receiving her formal training at Bryn Mawr, she and her husband began traveling the world, which lead to her interest in the traditions and spiritual practices of other cultures. In 1950, Isham moved to Berlin, Germany. While there, she attended the Hochschule für Bildende Kunste (Berlin Academy of Fine Arts) where she studied painting under the tutelage of Max Pechstein, Karl Schmidt-Rottluf, and Hans Uhlman, fellow Abstract Expressionists who had survived the recent Nazi era. The artist later lived in Russia, Vietnam, and Haiti. Each new cultural experience served to inspire her artwork. Working largely in abstraction, Isham is greatly influenced by spirituality and nature in her paintings, prints, and collages. Listings wanted.