ISABELLE BONZOM
PAINTING AS ADVENTURE
Lecture by Isabelle Bonzom, September 14, 2012
New York Academy of Art
Artist Isabelle Bonzom is a painter born in France. Her work has been exhibited in museums, art centers, galleries since 1987. After earning a doctorate in art, she pursued post doctorate studies at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts of Paris, focusing on fresco and art philosophy. She completed her studies at the Sorbonne. In 2010, she authored a reference book about buon fresco, "La fresque, art et technique." Read Biography.
Isabelle Bonzom has given lectures at various prestigious institutions, among them are the National Museum of Modern Art (Pompidou Center) in Paris and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, as well as Baruch College, the City University of New York, invited there by art historian and Distinguished Professor, Gail Levin to lecture on September 13, 2012.
Isabelle Bonzom was awarded a grant from the Kress Foundation in support of her talk « Goya affresco » given at the annual College Art Association conference, in Los Angeles on February 2018, a spart of the « Working out of medium » panel organized by David Pullins, curator at the Frick Collection.
At the New York Academy of Art in 2010, her lecture "Off with their heads!" explored the fragmentation of body and image through the study of the characters of Judith and Salome.
Isabelle Bonzom lecturing at the
New York Academy of Art
Painting as Adventure
Isabelle Bonzom views painting as a living body and art as an experience. At the New York Academy of Art, she talks to art students and alumni. She discusses her research on the artistic approach, from her dual perspective as a painter and a scholar. She talks about creativity, art in progress and art in process, knowledge, education, savoir-faire and experimentation. She examines how Modern artists such as Matisse understood those aspects of a life engaged in art. She particularly focuses on Eric Fischl's work on the occasion of the exhibit entitled "Dive Deep: Eric Fischl and the Process of Painting" (shown first in Philadelphia and now in San Jose). She also talks about her own experience and point of view as a painter. Lastly, she talks about drawing, unfinished painting, loss of knowledge in the XIXth century, academic training and modernity, as well as she comments about Hals, Ingres, David, Cézanne and Picasso.
List of the works of art commented during this lecture:
1- Isabelle Bonzom, « First strokes on the canvas while painting After the MoMA, II », 2012, photograph, Courtesy of the artist.
2- Henri Matisse, « View of Notre Dame », 1914, oil/canvas, 58 x 37 1/8 in., Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA.
3- Henri Matisse, « Notre Dame », 1914, oil/canvas, 58 x 37 in. Kunstmuseum Solothurn, Switzerland.
4- Henri Matisse, « Nu dans un fauteuil, plante verte», 1936, oil/canvas, 28 ½ x 24 in., Musée Matisse, Nice, France.
5- Henri Matisse, « Draped nude », 1936, oil/canvas, 38 x 15 in., Tate, London, UK.
6- Henri Matisse, « Six stages of Le Rêve », 1940, photographs, Archives Henri Matisse.
7- Henri Matisse, « Le Rêve », 1940, oil/canvas, 32 x 25 1/2 in., Private Collection.
8- Eric Fischl, « Untitled », 2007, oil/paper, 27 1/2 x 39 1/2 in., Private Collection.
9- Eric Fischl, « Saint Tropez (1982-88)», 1990, dye transfer photograph in linen box, 16 x 20 in., Hall Collection, Courtesy of the artist.
10- Eric Fischl, « Daddy’s Girl », 1988, oil/canvas, 78 x 108 in., Brandhorst Collection, Munich, Germany.
11- Eric Fischl, « Digital Photoshop Collages For Scenes From Late Paradise : The Stupidity », 2006-7, Courtesy of the artis
12- Eric Fischl, « Scene From Late Paradise : The Stupidity », 2006-7, oil/canvas, 84x108 in., Hall Art Foundation, Reading, VT, USA.
13- Eric Fischl, «The Clemente Family », 2005, oil/canvas, 69x86 in., Courtesy of the artist.
14- Eric Fischl, « The Clemente Family », Courtesy of the artist. Detail photographed by Isabelle Bonzom.
15- Isabelle Bonzom, « Spiraled », 2002, oil/canvas, 30 x 22 in., Courtesy of the artist / ADAGP
16- Isabelle Bonzom, « Meat », 2000, watercolor, ink, oil/canvas, 29 ½ x 22 in., Private Collection, Paris, France. ADAGP
17- Isabelle Bonzom, « Transit, I », 2010, oil/wood, 39,5 x 55 in., Courtesy of the artist / ADAGP
18- Isabelle Bonzom, « Transit, I », detail. ADAGP
19- Isabelle Bonzom, « First strokes on the wood surface for Cascade, IX », 2010, photograph, Courtesy of the artist / ADAGP
20- Isabelle Bonzom, « Cascade, IX », 2010, oil/wood, 55 x 55 in., Private Collection, Vendée, France. ADAGP
21- Isabelle Bonzom, «Arborescence, March 2012 », 2012, oil/wood, 51,2 x 51,2 in., Courtesy of the artist / ADAGP