Elmer Bischoff

January 22 - March 15, 2026

Five decades of the artist’s work - 1940s to 1980s.

Nelson Duni is proud to announce an exhibition of Elmer Bischoff, a celebration for one of the central figures of the Bay Area Figurative Movement and a pillar of San Francisco art. On view through March 15.

The exhibition presents some forty paintings and works on paper, spanning the artist’s career from his early abstract, surrealist canvases and his large figurative compositions, to his joyous late abstractions. This comprehensive selection shows Bischoff’s singular ability to capture atmosphere and feeling through brushwork that is at once descriptive and entirely free of representation.

Playground, 1954. Oil on canvas, 68 x 55 in, © Bischoff Family Art Trust.

Objects Above and Below the Horizon, 1947. Oil on canvas, 28 x 22 in, © Bischoff Family Art Trust.

Rococo Figures, 1947. Tempera on canvas, 31 1/2 x 39 1/4 in, © Bischoff Family Art Trust.

This is the first Bischoff exhibition in over 20 years to offer five decades of the artist’s work, from the 1940s to the 1980s. In addition to his paintings, the show features numerous figure drawings from the 1960s and 1970s that were created in studio sessions with other Bay Area artists and are representative of Bischoff’s practice.

A leading voice in the Bay Area Figurative Movement alongside Richard Diebenkorn, David Park, and Joan Brown, Bischoff (1916 - 1991) bridged abstraction and figuration with a painterly sensibility rooted in atmosphere and mood. His figures often emerge from luminous, ambiguous spaces that evoke narrative. His influence continues to resonate in contemporary painting today. Read full biography.

Exhibition Details

Title: Elmer Bischoff

Dates: January 22 - March 15, 2026

Location: Nelson Duni, 35 Bartlett Street, San Francisco, California

The exhibition is presented in collaboration with the Bischoff Family Art Trust.

Exhibition Programming

John Bischoff: A Sound Installation (Recordings, 1975–2025)

Sunday, February 22, 4:30 - 6:30 PM

In celebration of Nelson Duni’s exhibition, Elmer Bischoff, composer John Bischoff, the artist’s son, will present a sound installation that unfolds across the gallery space, offering a broad survey of his electronic work from the past fifty years. John is an accomplished composer best known as an early pioneer of live computer music.

Space is limited - Please RSVP

In Conversation: Hilarie Faberman & Phil Linhares

Wednesday, March 4th, 6:30 - 7:30 PM

Drawing on decades of scholarship, teaching, and connection to the Bay Area art community, the discussion will explore Bischoff’s artistic evolution, his role within the Bay Area Figurative Movement, and the lasting resonance of his work today.

Space is limited - Please RSVP