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Born in 1927 in New York, NY, United States


1962-65, Studied classical Chinese calligraphy, Hong Kong

1950-54, Berlin Academy of Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany

1950, B.A., Bryn Mawr College, PA

1948-49, University of Geneva, Switzerland


Currently lives in Sagaponack, NY


"Internationally trained, Isham bases much of her work on figures of animals, birds and mythical landscapes emerging out of abstract forms in a continuing quest for harmony. The mythology and aesthetics of Hinduism, which reveres the bull--the ancient symbol of man--and are a recurring theme in her work, inspire her paintings. Often the bulls are paired with women suggesting a new harmony and illuminating the mysterious affinity between humankind and the animal world. In other paintings, animals share an oasis, a metaphor for the possibilities for humankind.

Isham uses sweeping raw primary colors painted in translucent layers of glazes, achieving a transparent overlapping of shapes. Many works are major in size, some running over eight feet in length. She also produces works on paper, watercolors and collages.."

Sheila Isham, October 1999

  • Selected Solo Exhibitions
  • 1998:
  • Russian Museum, Marble Palace, St. Petersburg, Russia

  • Arlene Bujese Gallery, East Hampton, NY

  • Gallery Mx, Riga, Latvia

  • 1997: Museum of Modern Art, New Orleans, LA

  • 1995:
  • Fernbank - Museum of Natural History, Atlanta, GA

  • Palace of the Parliament, Bucharest, Rumania

  • American Center, Sophia, Bulgaria

  • Cultural Center of Zalaegerszeg, Hungary

  • 1994: Eri Gallery, Budapest, Hungary

  • 1993:
  • Georgia Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA

  • Philamonic Center for the Arts, Naples, FL

  • 1992: Central Europe Gallery, Prague Czechoslovakia

  • 1990:
  • Amerika Haus, Cologne, Germany

  • Ruth Siegel Gallery, New York, NY

  • 1989: Ingber Gallery, New York, NY

  • 1988:
  • Galerie Springer, Berlin, West Germany

  • Amerika Haus, Berlin, West Germany

  • 1981:
  • Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY

  • National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.

  • 1977: Metropolitan Museum of Art, Miami, FL

  • 1974:
  • Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY

  • Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

  • 1961: Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.


  • Selected Group Exhibitions
  • 2000: PaintingsDIRECT.com, Of Monsters and Men

  • 1975: Elkon Gallery, New York, NY, Works on Paper

  • 1974: Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL, Contemporary Religious Imagery in American Art

  • 1972: Darthea Speyer Gallery, Paris, France, Three American Painters

  • 1970: Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD, Washington, 20 Years

  • 1967: Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., 18th Area Exhibition

  • 1960: Boston Museum, Boston, MA

  • 1959:
  • Print Council of America

  • Library of Congress, Washington D.C.

  • Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.


  • Albright Knox Gallery, Buffalo, NY

  • Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD

  • Brockton Art Center, Brockton, MA

  • Castellani Museum of Art, Niagara, NY

  • Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

  • Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, GA

  • High Museum, Atlanta, GA

  • Hirshhorn Museum, Washington D.C.

  • Library of Congress, Washington D.C.

  • Metropolitan Museum and Art Center, Miami, FL

  • Milwaukee Art Center, Milwaukee, WI

  • Museum of Modern Art, New Orleans, LA

  • Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

  • National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.

  • Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City, OK

  • Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA

  • Philamonic Center for the Arts, Naples, FL

  • San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, CA

  • University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

  • Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN

  • Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT

  • U.S. State Department, United States Embassy Residences

    		•

    Selection of works from Sheila Isham

    Read the guestbook of Sheila Isham

    Sign the guestbook of Sheila Isham

    Smena. St. Petersburg, Russia, 1998.

    The East Hampton Star. 1998.

    Newsday. 1990.

    The Statesman. New Delhi, 1989.

    The Times of India. 1989.

    Berliner Illustrierte. 1989.

    New York Times. 1988.

    Aiken Standard. 1986.

    The Washington Star. 1981, 1974.

    The Washington Post. 1974, 1972, 1960.

    Buffalo Evening News. 1974.

    New York Herald Tribune. 1961.