Debra Bermingham is an American artist known for her interior scenes and still lifes.

Biography

Debra Pandell Bermingham was born in

Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571. Northampton is known as an acade ...

on September 18, 1953. She was educated at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

, Seattle, and

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

in Ithaca, New York. She has held teaching positions at the

, Hobart College,

, and

Ithaca College Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music and is set against the backdrop of the city of Ithaca (which is separate from the town), Cayuga Lake, waterfalls, and go ...

Work

Bermingham paints realistic interiors. Everyday objects are rendered strange and lyrical by her odd compositions and fuzzy lighting. The results are enigmatic little scenes not clarified by their equally puzzling titles. She describes the rationale for her subject matter thus: “Finding the edge between the compelling atmosphere of an image from memory and an image from dream is the crux of my painting.” Many of her works are still lifes with diminutive objects dwarfed by the surrounding spaces. Like

Giorgio Morandi Giorgio Morandi (July 20, 1890 – June 18, 1964) was an Italian painter and printmaker who specialized in still life. His paintings are noted for their tonal subtlety in depicting simple subjects, which were limited mainly to vases, bottles, b ...

(who is often mentioned in discussion of her work), Bermingham uses a limited collection of objects that she arranges in various combinations and settings; toys,

marionettes A marionette (; french: marionnette, ) is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed ...

, chairs, birdcages, and butterflies are among her favorite subjects. Her figures gaze intently at the viewer. A

harlequin Harlequin (; it, Arlecchino ; lmo, Arlechin, Bergamasque dialect, Bergamasque pronunciation ) is the best-known of the ''zanni'' or comic servant characters from the Italian language, Italian ''commedia dell'arte'', associated with the city o ...

or clown appears in several paintings; describing one such figure in an exhibition review, Gerrit Henry asks, "Is man essentially a puppet of the gods, or of the artist?" Bermingham favors limited palettes, working in transparent layers to create subtle color. Her process is meticulous and time-consuming; she is not a prolific artist. The most distinctive characteristic of her painting might be her portrayal of transfused light. Reagan Upshaw describes it as "chilly luminescence" and connects her work to

Luminism (American art style) ] Luminism is an American landscape painting style of the 1850s to 1870s, characterized by effects of light in landscape, through the use of aerial perspective and the concealment of visible brushstrokes. Luminist landscapes emphasize tranquility, ...

. She also paints landscapes, which were called reviewer "evocatively grim," with "

jaundiced Jaundice, also known as icterus, is a yellowish or greenish pigmentation of the skin and sclera due to hyperbilirubinemia, high bilirubin levels. Jaundice in adults is typically a sign indicating the presence of underlying diseases involving ...

" color by one reviewer.

Collections

Bermingham's works are held in the collections of: * the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

, * the Kalamazoo Institute of Art, * the

Brooklyn Museum of Art The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...

, and * the

Smith College Museum of Art The Smith College Museum of Art (abbreviated SCMA), is an art museum in Northampton, Massachusetts connected with Smith College. The museum is known for its compilation of American and European art of the 19th and 20th centuries, including works by ...

Awards

*Louise Nevelson Award in Art, American Academy of Arts and Letters (1996) *University of Rochester,

Memorial Art Gallery The Memorial Art Gallery is the civic art museum of Rochester, New York. Founded in 1913, it is part of the University of Rochester and occupies the southern half of the University's former Prince Street campus. It is the focal point of fine arts ...

, Louis D'Amanda Memorial Award (1985) *Cornell University, Charles Goodwin Sands Memorial Medal (1976) *Cornell University, Edith and Walter King Stone Memorial Prize (1975)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bermingham, Debra 1953 births Modern artists 20th-century American painters 21st-century American painters Artists from New York (state) People from Northampton, Massachusetts Painters from Massachusetts Living people American women painters 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American women artists