Isabel Bishop was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and raised in Detroit, Michigan. In 1918, at the age of seventeen, Bishop moved to New York, first to study illustration at the School of Applied Design for Women, then shifting her studies to painting when she enrolled in classes at the Art Students League at the age of eighteen. She spent four years at the Art Students League under the tutelage of Kenneth Hayes Miller, Robert Henri and Guy Pène du Bois, mainly having Miller as a long-term mentor as he was the most encouraging and supportive.
Bishop experienced a succession of personal and professional milestones during the middle years of the Great Depression. In 1933, she was given her first one-woman show in New York City. A few years later, the
Bishop experienced a succession of personal and professional milestones during the middle years of the Great Depression. In 1933, she was given her first one-woman show in New York City. A few years later, the