Susan SCHWALB is one of the foremost figures in the revival of the ancient technique of silverpoint drawing in America. Most of the contemporary artists who draw with a metal stylus continue the tradition of Leonardo and Durer by using the soft, delicate line for figurative imagery. By contrast, Schwalb's work is resolutely abstract, and her handling of the technique is extremely innovative. Paper is torn and burned to provide an emotionally free and dramatic contrast to the precise linearity of silverpoint. In other works, silverpoint is combined with flat expanses of acrylic paint or gold leaf. Sometimes, subtle shifts of tone and color emerge from the juxtaposition of a wide variety of metals. From 1997 to 2008 she abandoned the stylus altogether in favor of wide metal bands that achieve a shimmering atmosphere reminiscent of the luminous transparency of watercolor. In recent works since 2010, Schwalb creates a counterpoint between fine lines drawn with a stylus and broad swatches of bronze or copper tones. Those entitled Toccata have a stronger linear presence, and on occasion she has actually used fine pencil lines as a dark black contrast to the metalpoint.
Schwalb was born in New York City and studied at the High School of M&A, and at Carnegie-Mellon University. Her current drawings juxtapose a wide variety of metals (silver, gold, brass, copper, platinum, pewter, bronze and aluminum) to obtain soft shifts in tone and color. Horizontal bands evoke an atmosphere of serenity, and the shimmer of light on the surface, created by the metals, is quite unlike any of the usual effects of metalpoint.
Schwalb's oeuvre ranges from drawings on paper to artist books and paintings on canvas or wood panels; many of these panels are carefully beveled so that the imagery seems to float off the wall. Her work is represented in most of the major public collections, including MoMA (NY); Metropolitan Museum of Art (NY); National Gallery (Washington DC); British Museum (London); Brooklyn Museum (NY); Fogg Art Museum (Harvard University); Kupferstichkabinett Staatliche Museen (Berlin); Victoria and Albert Museum (London); Ashmolean Museum (Oxford); Museum of Fine Arts (Houston); Achenbach Foundation of Graphic Arts; Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco; Library of Congress (Washington DC); Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University (Waltham); Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven); CT, Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art; National September 11 Memorial and Museum (NY); Columbus Museum (Columbus); Evansville Museum of Art, History and Science (Indiana); Arkansas Arts Center (Little Rock) and Israel Museum (Jerusalem).
Schwalb has been in residence at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (2010, 2007, 1992, 1973), MacDowell Colony (1989, 1975, 1974), Yaddo (1981) and has had two residencies in Isreal in 1994 at Mishkenot Sha’ananim, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv Artists' Studios.
In 2015 the historical metalpoint exhibition entitled Drawing in Silver and Gold: From Leonardo to Jasper Johns has open at the National Gallery of Art, (Washington DC) and then travel to The British Museum (London). Schwalb was one of a very few living artists included in the show.
She has had over 35 solo exhibitions and has exhibited nationally and internationally. A touring retrospective is planned for 2018-20 which will include both works on paper and panel.
Susan Schwalb lives and works in NY (USA).
Schwalb was born in New York City and studied at the High School of M&A, and at Carnegie-Mellon University. Her current drawings juxtapose a wide variety of metals (silver, gold, brass, copper, platinum, pewter, bronze and aluminum) to obtain soft shifts in tone and color. Horizontal bands evoke an atmosphere of serenity, and the shimmer of light on the surface, created by the metals, is quite unlike any of the usual effects of metalpoint.
Schwalb's oeuvre ranges from drawings on paper to artist books and paintings on canvas or wood panels; many of these panels are carefully beveled so that the imagery seems to float off the wall. Her work is represented in most of the major public collections, including MoMA (NY); Metropolitan Museum of Art (NY); National Gallery (Washington DC); British Museum (London); Brooklyn Museum (NY); Fogg Art Museum (Harvard University); Kupferstichkabinett Staatliche Museen (Berlin); Victoria and Albert Museum (London); Ashmolean Museum (Oxford); Museum of Fine Arts (Houston); Achenbach Foundation of Graphic Arts; Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco; Library of Congress (Washington DC); Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University (Waltham); Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven); CT, Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art; National September 11 Memorial and Museum (NY); Columbus Museum (Columbus); Evansville Museum of Art, History and Science (Indiana); Arkansas Arts Center (Little Rock) and Israel Museum (Jerusalem).
Schwalb has been in residence at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (2010, 2007, 1992, 1973), MacDowell Colony (1989, 1975, 1974), Yaddo (1981) and has had two residencies in Isreal in 1994 at Mishkenot Sha’ananim, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv Artists' Studios.
In 2015 the historical metalpoint exhibition entitled Drawing in Silver and Gold: From Leonardo to Jasper Johns has open at the National Gallery of Art, (Washington DC) and then travel to The British Museum (London). Schwalb was one of a very few living artists included in the show.
She has had over 35 solo exhibitions and has exhibited nationally and internationally. A touring retrospective is planned for 2018-20 which will include both works on paper and panel.
Susan Schwalb lives and works in NY (USA).