Drucie Saal Belman has given talks on a range of contemporary artists from Gerhard Richter to Mark Bradford, Joan Mitchell and Team Lab. She has worked in numerous museums and galleries, as an art consultant in Hong Kong and Paris, and as a guide through SFMOMA exhibits.
Has art always been a passion of yours?
Absolutely. I was born and raised in New York City and majored in art history at Wellesley. My first job was at the Pace Gallery. It was incredibly informative and interesting because the artists themselves would come in, like Chuck Close and William Wegman with his dogs. I not only got to know these incredible works and the people who created them, but also the business of art. I’ve worked in a number of galleries and museums over the years. I lived in Asia for a while, as well, and sold contemporary Asian art.
About a decade ago, my husband was offered a job in California and we moved out here with the kids. I’d always wanted to live in California. I love it here.
When did you first become aware of the Bay Area Figurative Movement?
Actually it was quite late. Probably about 10 years ago. Here’s an interesting thing about California artists: They’re not really seen or featured on the East Coast. For example, an old family friend is an incredible artist who lives in Napa. She has been in a ton of important collections on the West Coast. But New York galleries have snubbed her because they think her work is “too soft” and maybe even a tiny bit “craft.” Being considered “craft” is the kiss of death on the East Coast. When I first experienced the work of Bay Area figuratives, I was blown away by the organic, tactile quality of the pieces. These artists are treasures and their work is just beautiful.
How did the movement start?
Abstract expressionism took over the country after World War II. Everyone was doing it, including Bay Area artists. And then one day, David Park, who came to pioneer the movement, said, “I can't do this anymore. This isn't who I am.” Bear in mind that this was an artist who had already done a lot of abstract painting, but no matter. He took his paintings and tossed them in the Berkeley dump. Then he started again. His work was very painterly and thick and tactile, but with figures.
How does one artist spark a movement?
This is where all these great stories come in. David Park taught at the California School of Fine Arts at the time. Clyfford Still was also a professor there and they hated each other. Still was a sort of a mysterious black-cloaked figure who embodied abstraction. So there were these conflicting factions.
David Park was almost having a visceral reaction to Still like, “you're putting this pure expression on me, but it isn't me and I'm gonna do what I want to do.” Park, Elmer Bischoff and Richard Diebenkorn, who were friends and colleagues, became this tight crowd. Others joined in over time. Wayne Thiebaud, Manuel Neri, Joan Brown, among others. Basically, these Bay Area artists broke away from the force field that was abstract expressionism and created a community that supported one another. They were able to create their own thing. And their own thing is remarkable.
Where can OLLI members in the Bay Area see these works up close?
The Oakland Museum of Art has many of the works in their collection, but not always on display. In fact, they had an exhibition in 1957, which was called “Bay Area Figurative Artists.” The artists themselves didn’t care what they were called but that’s how the name was born.
If you are in the Palo Alto area, The Anderson Collection at Stanford has several important pieces that are always on view.