Janet Fish

{{Short description|American painter (1938–2025)}} {{Infobox artist | name = Janet Fish | image = Janet Fish.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1938|05|18}} | birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2025|12|11|1938|05|18}} | death_place = Wells, Vermont, U.S. | spouse = | field = Still life paintings; art instructor at the School of Visual Arts, Parsons The New School for Design, Syracuse University, and the University of Chicago | training = Smith College, The Skowhegan School of Art, Yale University School of Art and Architecture | movement = Realist | works = | awards = | website = <!-- {{URL|Example.com}} --> | birth_name = Janet Isobel Fish }} thumbnail|Black Bowl Red Scarf by Janet Fish

'''Janet Isobel Fish''' (May 18, 1938 – December 11, 2025) was an American contemporary realist artist. Through oil painting, lithography, and screenprinting, she explored the interaction of light with everyday objects in the still life genre. Many of her paintings include elements of transparency (plastic wrap, water), reflected light,<ref name="harn" /> and multiple overlapping patterns depicted in bold, high color values. She has been credited with revitalizing the still life genre.

==Early life and education== Janet Isobel Fish<ref name="artfact" /><ref name="nyt obit">{{Cite news |last=Rosenwald |first=Michael S. |date=January 1, 2026 |title=Janet Fish, Painter of Luminous Still Lifes, Dies at 87 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/01/arts/design/janet-fish-dead.html |access-date=January 1, 2026 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> was born on May 18, 1938, in Boston, Massachusetts,<ref name="kort65" /> and was raised in Bermuda, where her family moved when she was ten years old.<ref name="kort65" /> From a young age, she was surrounded by many artistic influences. Her father was professor of art history Peter Stuyvesant Fish and her mother was sculptor and potter Florence Whistler Voorhees.<ref name="mfah" /> Her sister, Alida, is a photographer.<ref name="harrison" /> Her grandfather, whose studio was in Bermuda, was American Impressionist painter Clark Voorhees.<ref name="rice" /> Her uncle, also named Clark Voorhees,<ref name="mfah" /> was a wood carver<ref name="goldberg8" /> and his wife, a painter.<ref name="goldberg14" />

Fish knew from a young age that she wanted to pursue the visual arts.<ref name="kort65" /> She said, "I came from a family of artists, and I always made art and knew I wanted to be an artist."<ref name="goodman" /> Fish was talented in ceramics and she initially intended to be a sculptor.<ref name="kort65" /> As a teenager, Fish was an assistant in the studio of sculptor Byllee Lang.<ref name="artint" />

Fish attended Smith College, in Northampton, Massachusetts, concentrating on sculpture and printmaking.<ref name="anderson" /> She studied under George Cohn, Leonard Baskin, and Mervin Jules.<ref name="goldberg8" /> She spent one of her summers studying at the Art Students League of New York and attended a painting class led by Stephen Greene.<ref name="goldberg10" /> Fish received a Bachelor of Arts from Smith in 1960.<ref name="artint" /> This was followed by a summer residency at The Skowhegan School of Art in Skowhegan, Maine in 1961.<ref name="kort65" />

Fish enrolled at the Yale University School of Art and Architecture in New Haven, Connecticut, attending from 1960 to 1963.<ref name="goldberg9" /> There she changed her focus from sculpture to painting.<ref name="mfah" /> Her instructor for an introductory painting class was Alex Katz, who encouraged students to explore the shows in New York galleries which expanded Fish's knowledge of the art world.<ref name="goldberg8" /> During that period, art schools tended to favor the teaching of Abstract Expressionism,<ref name="artdaily" /> influencing Fish's burgeoning artistic style. She soon developed her own direction noting that "Abstract Expressionism didn't mean anything to me. It was a set of rules."<ref name="mfah" />

Her fellow Yale students included Chuck Close, Richard Serra, Brice Marden, Nancy Graves, Sylvia<ref name="goldberg9" /> and Robert Mangold, and Rackstraw Downes. In 1963, Fish became one of the first women to earn a Master of Fine Arts from Yale's School of Art and Architecture.<ref name="mfah" />

==Work== Fish largely rejected the Abstract Expressionism endorsed by her Yale instructors feeling "totally disconnected" from it and desiring instead the "physical presence of objects". Undaunted by the dogma of pure abstraction which reigned in her formative years, Janet Fish connected with images in the real world. Rooted in the Modernist formal tradition and the Dutch still life genre tradition, her work adheres to the world of concrete contemporary experience. Fish's simple, familiar subjects are rendered with formal complexity, richness of detail and the vibrant, tropical palette of her childhood.

Fish was interested in painting light and a concept she on occasion called "packaging", such as jars, cellophane, and wrappers.

Among her other favorite subjects were everyday objects, especially various kinds of clear glassware, either empty or partially filled with liquids such as water, liquor, or vinegar. Examples range from glasses, bottles, goblets, and jars<ref name="kort65" /> to a fishbowl filled with water and a goldfish.<ref name="gaze524" /><ref name="met" /> Other subjects included teacups,<ref name="kort65" /> flower bouquets, textiles with interesting patterns,<ref name="artdaily" /> goldfish, vegetables,<ref name="kort66" /> and mirrored surfaces.<ref name="harn" />

Although Fish's work has been characterized as Photorealist or New Realism,<ref name="atkins" /> she did not consider herself a photorealist. Elements, such as her composition and use of color, demonstrate the view of a painter rather than a photographer.<ref name="anderson" />

==Career== After graduating from Yale, Fish spent a year in Philadelphia<ref name="goldberg10" /> then moved to SoHo where she became friends with Louise Nevelson.<ref name="artint" />

Fish was an art instructor at the School of Visual Arts and Parsons The New School for Design (both in New York City), Syracuse University (Syracuse, New York), and the University of Chicago.<ref name="kort66" />

Fish had two short-lived marriages, which she claimed were unsuccessful at least partly due to her high ambitions and her reluctance to be a "good conventional housewife".<ref name="kort65" /> In her later years, she resided, and painted, in her SoHo, New York City, loft and her Vermont farmhouse<ref name="anderson" /> in Middletown Springs.<ref name="artnet" />

==Death== Fish died in Wells, Vermont, on December 11, 2025, at the age of 87.<ref name="nyt obit" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Bell |first=Jonathan |date=December 16, 2025 |title=Tributes to Janet Fish, painter with Bermuda past |url=https://www.royalgazette.com/general/news/article/20251216/tributes-to-janet-fish-painter-with-bermuda-past/ |access-date=January 2, 2026 |work=The Royal Gazette}}</ref>

==Exhibitions== {{More citations needed section|date=January 2026}} Fish's first solo show was at Rutherford, New Jersey's Fairleigh Dickinson University in 1967 and her first New York exhibition followed two years later.<ref name="kort65" /> Fish exhibited over 75 times nationally and internationally. Below is a selection of the exhibitions of her work.

*Janet Fish, Pinwheels and Poppies, Paintings 1980–2008, DC Moore Gallery, New York, 2017, solo exhibition<ref>{{Cite web |title=Janet Fish: Pinwheels and Poppies, Paintings 1980 - 2008 |url=https://www.dcmooregallery.com/exhibitions/janet-fish-pinwheels-and-poppies-paintings-1980-2008 |access-date=January 1, 2026 |website=DC Moore Gallery}}</ref> *Janet Fish, Glass & Plastic, The Early Years, 1968-1978, DC Moore Gallery, New York, 2016, solo exhibition<ref>{{Cite web |title=Janet Fish: Glass & Plastic, The Early Years, 1968-1978 |url=https://www.dcmooregallery.com/exhibitions/janet-fish-glass-and-plastic-the-early-years-1968-1978 |access-date=January 1, 2026 |website=DC Moore Gallery}}</ref> *The Annual 2015: The Depth of the Surface, National Academy of Design, New York, 2015, group exhibition *This American Life, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO, 2014, group exhibition<ref>{{Cite web |title=This American Life |url=https://www.kemperart.org/exhibition/this-american-life |access-date=January 2, 2026 |website=Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art}}</ref> *Fall Fantasy - Small Scale Works, Marianne Friedland Gallery, Naples, FL, 2014, group exhibition *Janet Fish, Panoply, DC Moore Gallery, New York, NY, 2014, solo exhibition<ref>{{Cite web |title=Janet Fish: Panoply |url=https://www.dcmooregallery.com/exhibitions/janet-fish-panoply |access-date=January 1, 2026 |website=DC Moore Gallery}}</ref> *Compelling Images, Makeready Press Gallery, Montclair, NJ, 2013, group exhibition *Janet Fish, Recent Paintings, DC Moore Gallery, New York, 2012, solo exhibition<ref name="artdaily" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Janet Fish: Recent Paintings |url=https://www.dcmooregallery.com/exhibitions/janet-fish-recent-paintings |access-date=January 1, 2026 |website=DC Moore Gallery}}</ref> *Janet Fish, The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH, 2006, solo exhibition *The Art of Janet Fish, Ogunquit Museum of American Art, Ogunquit, ME, 2004, solo exhibition *Janet Fish, LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM, 2004, solo exhibition *Janet Fish, Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, Gainesville, FL, 2003, solo exhibition<ref name="harn" /> *Janet Fish, The Columbus Museum, Columbus, GA, 2000, solo exhibition *Janet Fish, Paintings and Drawings Since 1975, Marsh Gallery, University of Richmond, 1987, solo exhibition<ref name=richmond /> *76 Jefferson, Museum of Modern Art, 1975, group exhibition<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 11, 1975 |title=76 Jefferson: Fall Penthouse Art Lending Service Exhibition |url=https://www.moma.org/momaorg/shared/pdfs/docs/press_archives/5290/releases/MOMA_1975_0075_60.pdf |access-date=January 2, 2026 |website=MoMA}}</ref> *New York Exhibition, 1969, solo exhibition * Fairleigh Dickinson University, 1967, solo exhibition ==Recognition== The catalog of Fish's University of Richmond exhibition reported that critic Gerrit Henry had described Fish as an acknowledged master of the contemporary still life.<ref name=richmond>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=Janet Fish: Paintings and Drawings Since 1975 |url=https://scholarship.richmond.edu/exhibition-brochures/16/ |access-date=January 1, 2026 |website=UR Scholarship Repository |publisher=University of Richmond |publication-place=Richmond, Virginia}}</ref>

A writer for ''The New York Times'' said that Fish's "ambitious still life painting helped resuscitate realism in the 1970{{sic|nolink=y|hide=y|'}}s" and that she imbued everyday objects with a "bold optical and painterly energy".<ref name="johnson" /> Critic Vincent Katz concurs, stating that Fish's career "can be summed up as the revitalization of the still-life genre, no mean feat when one considers that still life has often been considered the lowest type of objective painting".<ref name="rice" />

In an interview, American painter Eric Fischl spoke of his admiration for Janet Fish: "She's one of the most interesting realists of her generation. Her work is a touchstone, and tremendously influential. Anyone who deals with domestic still life has to go through her, she's very important."<ref name="scobie" />

Fish was honored with various awards and fellowships, including: * MacDowell Fellowship, 1968, 1969 and 1972<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.macdowell.org/artists/janet-fish|title=Janet Fish - Artist|website=MacDowell}}</ref> * Harris Award, Chicago Biennale, 1974 * Australia Council for Arts Grant, 1975 * Elected into the National Academy of Design as Associate National Academician, 1990, and National Academician, 1994<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 15, 2025 |title=Janet Fish NA (1938-2025) |url=https://nationalacademy.org/perspectives/Janet_Fish |access-date=January 1, 2026 |website=National Academy of Design}}</ref> * Hubbard Museum Award, 1991 * Aspen Art Museum Woman in Arts Award, 1993 * American Academy of Arts and Letters Award, 1994<ref name="asu" /> * Smith College Medal, 2012<ref name="goodman" /> Fish's work is included in the permanent collection of many institutions and museums.

==Museum collections== {{More citations needed section|date=January 2026}}{{div col|colwidth=25em}} * Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art, Saint Joseph, Missouri * American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters * Art Institute of Chicago<ref>{{cite web|title=Janet Fish|url=https://www.artic.edu/artists/8363/janet-fish|access-date=January 3, 2026|website=The Art Institute of Chicago}}</ref> * [http://www.bermudanationalgallery.com Bermuda National Gallery] * Canton Museum of Art * Cleveland Museum of Art * Columbia Museum of Art * Dallas Museum of Art<ref>{{cite web|last=Fish|first=Janet|title=One Red, One Beer, One Cheese|url=https://www.dma.org/art/collection/object/3264236|website=Dallas Museum of Art|access-date=January 6, 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Fish|first=Janet|title=Three Water Glasses|url=https://www.dma.org/art/collection/object/5346921|website=Dallas Museum of Art|access-date=January 6, 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Fish|first=Janet|title=8 Vinegar Bottles|url=https://www.dma.org/art/collection/object/4337031|website=Dallas Museum of Art|access-date=January 6, 2026}}</ref> * Dayton Art Institute * Farnsworth Art Museum * Harn Museum of Art<ref name="harn" /> * Huntsville Museum of Art<ref>{{cite web|title=American Modern and Contemporary Art|url=https://hsvmuseum.org/american-modern-and-contemporary-art/|website=Huntsville Museum of Art|access-date=January 6, 2026}}</ref> * Kalamazoo Institute of Arts<ref>{{cite web|last=Fish|first=Janet|title=A.M.|url=http://64.136.229.66:8081/objects/7092/am?ctx=f4960a67f5d43a7a021018c67c6b737460660528&idx=0|website=Kalamazoo Institute of Arts|access-date=January 18, 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Fish|first=Janet|title=June|url=http://64.136.229.66:8081/objects/3209/june?ctx=f4960a67f5d43a7a021018c67c6b737460660528&idx=1|website=Kalamazoo Institute of Arts|access-date=January 18, 2026}}</ref> * Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College<ref>{{cite web|last=Fish|first=Janet|title= Portrait of President Linda Koch Lorimer|url=https://collections.maiermuseum.org/mDetail.aspx?rID=M.1995.21&db=objects&dir=maier&osearch=%2522Fish%20%2520Janet%2522&list=res&rname=&rimage=&page=1|website=The Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College|access-date=January 18, 2026}}</ref> * Metropolitan Museum of Art * Mount Holyoke College Art Museum * Museum of Fine Arts, Boston * Museum of Fine Arts, Houston * Museum of Modern Art, New York * Museum of Victoria * National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. * North Carolina Museum of Art * Orlando Museum of Art * Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts * Smith College Museum of Art * Smithsonian American Art Museum * Westmoreland Museum of American Art * Whitney Museum of American Art * Wichita Art Museum * Yale University Art Gallery {{div col end}}

==References== {{reflist|1=2|refs= <ref name="anderson">{{cite web|url=http://www.luag.org/pages/viewfull.cfm?ElementID=405|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130415064504/http://www.luag.org/pages/viewfull.cfm?ElementID=405|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 15, 2013|title=Janet Fish: An American Master|last=Anderson|first=Theo|publisher=Lehigh University Art Galleries|access-date=March 14, 2012|location=Bethlehem, PA}}</ref> <ref name="artdaily">{{cite web|date=February 9, 2012|url=http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=53504|title=Exhibition of recent paintings by artist Janet Fish on view at DC Moore Gallery in New York|publisher=ArtDaily|access-date=March 14, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130414104441/http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=53504%23.UWqIgn3LfK4|archive-date=April 14, 2013}}</ref> <ref name="artfact">{{cite web|url=http://www.artfact.com/artist/fish-janet-i-360caji4vy|title=Janet I Fish|publisher=Artfact|access-date=March 14, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130117161830/http://www.artfact.com/artist/fish-janet-i-360caji4vy|archive-date=January 17, 2013}}</ref> <ref name="artint">{{cite journal|url=http://www.art-interview.com/Issue_002/interview_Fish-Janet.html|archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090711231313/http://www.art-interview.com/Issue_002/interview_Fish-Janet.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=July 11, 2009|title=Janet Fish|journal=Art Interview Online Magazine|volume=2|access-date=March 14, 2012}}</ref> <ref name="artnet">{{cite web|url=http://www.artnet.com/artists/janet-fish/|title=Janet Fish|publisher=artnet|access-date=March 14, 2012}}</ref> <ref name="asu">{{cite web|url=http://wwol.is.asu.edu/fish.html|title=Janet Fish|work=The World's Women On-Line|publisher=Arizona State University|access-date=March 21, 2012|archive-date=March 5, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305075818/http://wwol.is.asu.edu/fish.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> <ref name="atkins">{{cite book|last=Atkins|first=Robert|title=Artspeak: a Guide to Contemporary Ideas, Movements, and Buzzwords|url=https://archive.org/details/artspeakguidetoc00atki|url-access=registration|year=1990|publisher=Abbeville Press|location=New York|isbn=978-1-55859-127-1}}</ref> <ref name="gaze524">Gaze, p. 524.</ref> <ref name="goldberg8">Goldberg, p. 8.</ref> <ref name="goldberg9">Goldberg, p. 9.</ref> <ref name="goldberg10">Goldberg, p. 10.</ref> <ref name="goldberg14">Goldberg, p. 14.</ref> <ref name="goodman">{{cite news|url=http://www.smithsophian.com/news/winners-of-2012-smith-medal-announced-1.2655267#.T2eUnV2BQrV|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130202112000/http://www.smithsophian.com/news/winners-of-2012-smith-medal-announced-1.2655267%23.T2eUnV2BQrV|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 2, 2013|title=Winners of 2012 Smith Medal announced|last=Goodman|first=Olivia|date=October 19, 2011|work=The Sophian|publisher=Smith College|access-date=March 14, 2012|location=Northampton, Massachusetts}}</ref> <ref name="harn">{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610100713/http://www.harn.ufl.edu/press/03_04_janet_fish.pdf|archive-date=June 10, 2010|url=http://www.harn.ufl.edu/press/03_04_janet_fish.pdf|title=Recently donated Janet Fish paintings: On view at Harn Museum|date=April 3, 2003|publisher=Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art|access-date=March 14, 2012|location=Gainesville, Florida}}</ref> <ref name="harrison">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/08/nyregion/mothers-and-daughters-tracing-the-oeuvre.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|title=Mothers and Daughters: Tracing the Oeuvre|last=Harrison|first=Helen A.|date=December 8, 1996|work=The New York Times|page=23|access-date=March 14, 2012}}</ref> <ref name="johnson">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/02/27/arts/art-guide.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|title=Art Guide|last=Johnson|first=Ken|date=February 27, 1998|work=The New York Times|page=37|access-date=March 14, 2012}}</ref> <ref name="kort65">Kort, p. 65.</ref> <ref name="kort66">Kort, p. 66.</ref> <ref name="met">{{cite web|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/210002832|title=''Raspberries and Goldfish''|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|access-date=March 26, 2012}}</ref> <ref name="mfah">{{cite web|url=http://www.mfah.org/site_media/uploads/attachments/2011-04-28/10.076_ArtCard_Fish.pdf|title=Janet Fish – Modern Still Life Painter|publisher=Museum of Fine Arts, Houston|access-date=March 14, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111027215202/http://mfah.org/site_media/uploads/attachments/2011-04-28/10.076_ArtCard_Fish.pdf|archive-date=October 27, 2011}}</ref> <ref name="rice">{{cite journal|last=Rice|first=Robin|date=Autumn 2003 – Winter 2004|title=Janet Fish: Paintings|journal=Woman's Art Journal|publisher=Woman's Art|volume=24|issue=2|pages=45–46|doi=10.2307/1358790|jstor=1358790}}</ref> <ref name="scobie">{{cite interview |url=http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/features/scobie/scobie7-21-09.asp |title=Inside Man |interviewer=Ilka Scobie |subject=Eric Fischl |work=artnet |access-date=March 14, 2012}}</ref> }}

==Sources== {{refbegin}} * {{cite book|last=Gaze|first=Delia|title=Dictionary of women artists|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6_0Y0PALzQMC&pg=PA523|access-date=March 26, 2012|year=1997|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-884964-21-3}} * {{cite journal|last=Goldberg|first=Ira|date=Fall 2009|title=Janet Fish: Reflections|journal=Linea: Journal of the Art Students League of New York|volume=13|issue=2|issn=1544-4716|url=http://theartstudentsleague.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=TWmSOy6cgEg%3D&tabid=96|access-date=March 14, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120831004850/http://www.theartstudentsleague.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=TWmSOy6cgEg%3D&tabid=96|archive-date=August 31, 2012|url-status=dead}} * {{cite book|last=Kort|first=Carol|title=A to Z of American Women in the Visual Arts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iCcpVOQRtN0C&pg=PA65|access-date=March 14, 2012|year=2002|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-0791-2}} {{refend}}

==External links== * [https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-janet-i-fish-13260 Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution: Oral History Interview] Some sites displaying images of Fish's work: * [http://www.dcmooregallery.com/artists/janet-fish DC Moore Gallery] * {{cite journal|last=Leffingwell|first=Edward|author-link=Edward Leffingwell|date=December 2005|title=Janet Fish at DC Moore|journal=Art in America|url=http://images.dcmooregallery.com/www_dcmooregallery_com/ArtinAmerica2005005.jpg|access-date=February 1, 2013|archive-date=August 21, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821162624/http://images.dcmooregallery.com/www_dcmooregallery_com/ArtinAmerica2005005.jpg|url-status=dead}} * {{cite journal|last=Katz|first=Vincent|date=March 2012|title=Janet Fish: Recent Paintings|journal=The Brooklyn Rail|url=http://brooklynrail.org/2012/03/artseen/janet-fish-recent-paintings|access-date=February 1, 2013}} * {{cite journal|last=Church|first=Amanda|date=April 2012|title=Janet Fish: DC Moore|journal=ARTnews|url=http://images.dcmooregallery.com/www_dcmooregallery_com/ARTnews_April_2012.pdf|access-date=February 1, 2013|archive-date=January 29, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160129103855/http://images.dcmooregallery.com/www_dcmooregallery_com/ARTnews_April_2012.pdf|url-status=dead}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fish, Janet}} Category:1938 births Category:2025 deaths Category:American modern artists Category:20th-century American painters Category:21st-century American painters Category:Painters from Boston Category:Smith College alumni Category:Art Students League of New York alumni Category:Yale School of Art alumni Category:Yale University alumni Category:School of Visual Arts faculty Category:Parsons School of Design faculty Category:Syracuse University faculty Category:University of Chicago faculty Category:American people of Dutch descent Category:20th-century American women painters Category:21st-century American women painters Category:American women academics