Janet Fish (American, b.1938) is an important Realist painter born in Boston, MA, and raised on the island of Bermuda. Her early passions were for sculpture and printmaking, interests fostered by an apprenticeship with artist Byllee Lang during her youth, and the artistic endeavors of her family. She formally studied these subjects at Smith College, and went on to obtain her MFA from Yale University in 1963. While at Yale, Fish attended the Skowhegan Summer School in Maine, an experience which inspired her to move to New York to pursue a career as a painter. She concentrated on still lifes, with renewed focus on the effects of light and reflection on familiar subjects, such as fruit, flowers, and glassware. Using vivid color and masterful brushstrokes, she attempted to capture light’s movement, energy, and warmth on the canvas.
In 1971, her visually rich paintings caught the eye of gallerist Jill Kornblee, who offered to represent her work. By 1982, Fish was given her first solo museum exhibition at the Delaware Museum of Art. Her paintings have since been exhibited at, and become a part of the collections of, a number of prestigious institutions, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Dallas Museum of Art.