Susan Landauer

Susan Landauer
Born1958
Oakland, California, U.S.
Died2020
Oakland, California, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
EducationYale University, University of California Berkeley
Known forContemporary and modern art curation, art historical writing, museum leadership
AwardsInternational Association of Art Critics, National Endowment for the Arts, Henry Luce Foundation, College Art Association

Susan Landauer (1958–2020) was an American art historian, author, and curator of modern and contemporary art based in California.[1] She worked for three decades, both independently and as chief curator of the San Jose Museum of Art (SJMA) and co-founder of the San Francisco Center for the Book.[2][3] Landauer was known for championing movements and idioms of California art, overlooked artists of the past, women artists, and artists of color.[2][4][5][6] She organized exhibitions that gained national attention; among the best known are: "The San Francisco School of Abstract Expressionism" (Laguna Art Museum, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 1996),[7] "Visual Politics: The Art of Engagement" (SJMA, 2006),[8] and retrospectives of Elmer Bischoff,[9] Roy De Forest (both at the Oakland Museum of California, 2001 and 2017, respectively),[6] and Franklin Williams (2017, Museum of Sonoma County).[10] Her work was recognized with awards and grants from the International Association of Art Critics, National Endowment for the Arts and Henry Luce Foundation, among others.[11][12][13][14] Critics, including Roberta Smith and Christopher Knight, praised her scholarship on San Francisco Abstract Expressionism, De Forest, Richard Diebenkorn, and Bernice Bing, among others, as pioneering.[15][16][17][18] In 2021, Art in America editor and curator Michael Duncan said that "no other scholar has contributed as much to the study of California art".[1] Landauer died of lung cancer at age 62 in Oakland on December 19, 2020.[3]

  1. ^ a b Schuster, Clayton. "Remembering Susan Landauer, a Curator Who Championed California Art," Hyperallergic, January 11, 2021. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Hamlin, Jesse. "San Jose Museum's Curator Champions California Art," San Francisco Chronicle, September 4, 2000. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Whiting, Sam. "Susan Landauer, Oakland art historian and museum curator, dead at 62," San Francisco Chronicle, December 21, 2020. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  4. ^ Knight, Christopher. "An Enlightening Show of Abstract Expressionism," Los Angeles Times, February 2, 1996. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  5. ^ Benson, Heidi. "San Jose Museum's Landauer Loves 'the Hunt,'" San Francisco Chronicle, April 15, 2001. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Yau, John. "Roy De Forest's Search for Paradise Did Not Always Go Well," Hyperallergic, June 4, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  7. ^ Plagens, Peter. "The San Francisco School of Abstract Expressionism," Artforum, November 1996. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  8. ^ Heffley, Lynne. "Protest politics on canvas," Los Angeles Times, January 8, 2006. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  9. ^ Littlejohn, David. "A Tale of Two Artists," The Wall Street Journal, December 3, 2001. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  10. ^ Schuster, Clayton. "The Intimate Abstractions of Franklin Williams, an Unsung Master from the '60s," Hyperallergic, August 30, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  11. ^ Snow, Shauna. "Arts and entertainment reports from The Times," Los Angeles Times, December 18, 1996. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  12. ^ Landauer, Susan. The San Francisco School of Abstract Expressionism, Berkeley/Laguna Beach, CA: University of California Press/Laguna Art Museum, 1996. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  13. ^ Landauer, Susan. Elmer Bischoff: The Ethics of Paint, Berkeley/Oakland, CA: University of California Press/Oakland Museum, 2001. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  14. ^ University of California Press. Art of Engagement: Visual Politics in California and Beyond, Book. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  15. ^ Smith, Roberta. "Roy De Forest's Greatness Shines Even in a Virtual Display," The New York Times, April 9, 2020, p. C10. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  16. ^ Knight, Christopher. "All for One," Artforum, September 1996. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  17. ^ Curtis, Cathy. "Vision, Reach and Grasp," Los Angeles Times, August 19, 1997. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  18. ^ Desmarais, Charles. "What if Bernice Bing's art had been celebrated and supported?", San Francisco Chronicle, October 3, 2019. Retrieved February 25, 2021.