Elizabeth Higgins describes herself as an abstract figurative and landscape painter. Everything around her serves as a potential subject, an inspiration to begin a painting. Fidelity to the landscape, the figure, or the still life is relative, as she isn’t interested in literal depictions; instead, it’s the abstract relationships of these shapes and colors, the abstract pictorial design.
Her work is rooted in the tradition stemming from Courbet, Derain, Bonnard, Matisse, Morandi, German Expressionism, the Canadian Group of Seven, to her artist-teachers Paul Resika, Robert de Niro Sr., and finally, the contemporary artist, Peter Doig. Her artistic evolution stretches across this continuum.
It is the “in-between”, the hovering between representation and abstraction, that interests her, not the labeling effect of details; instead, she aims directly at the spirit of the painting – of making something come to life.
John Goodrich wrote in her catalog essay, “Elizabeth Higgins’ direct brushwork and simplified forms suggest an energy, but crucially, reveal a painter who knows the power of color…”
Elizabeth Higgins was born in Toronto, Canada, in 1960. As a Helena Rubenstein Award recipient, Higgins earned her MFA from Parsons School of Design, where she studied with Leland Bell, Paul Resika, Albert Kresch and Robert deNiro,Sr. Prior to coming to New York in 1983, Higgins received her BFA from Queen’s University, Canada, where she studied painting and printmaking with JC Heywood, Ralph Allen and David Andrew.
Higgins’ solo shows include the George Billis Gallery, NYC, 2024, Prince Street Gallery, NYC, 2022, The Argazzi Gallery, Lakeville, CT and the Nancy Poole Studio, Toronto, Canada. Her notable group exhibitions include the Chelsea Winter Group Show, Cavalier/Ebanks Gallery, NYC, 2022 show Light of Day – The Language of Landscape, Westbeth Gallery, NYC, Curated by Karen Wilkin, Alice Gauvin Gallery, Portland, ME; Silvermine Galleries, New Canaan, CT; Ingber Gallery, New York; the Mangel Gallery, Philadelphia; the Addison/Ripley Fine Art gallery, Washington, DC, the ART/PLACE gallery, Fairfield CT; and the Carriage Barn Arts Center, New Canaan, CT.
Her work has been reviewed in The New Criterion, American Art Collector, and is included in corporate and private collections in the US and Canada.
