Lillian F. Schwartz

Lillian Schwartz is one of the pioneers in computer art and is known as the first female artist to use computers as an art tool. “In the 1960s, when Schwartz first began to explore this new medium for artistic expression, the common public perception was that such works were randomly created by the computers themselves, much like the abstract paintings spewed out by quirky machines in Jean Tinguely’s 1960 Homage to New York. From the beginning, however, Schwartz made it clear in her work that the creative genius of the artist was in command of her technological toolbox. The computer was just another implement to be mastered, just as she had earlier learned the disciplined control required in using traditional Japanese calligraphy brushes. Schwartz shared this confident, experimental approach to the new medium in her immensely practical survey of the field, The Computer Artist’s Handbook (co-authored with Laurens Schwartz). Even before becoming a member of the group, “Experiments in Art and Technology” (EAT) Schwartz had long demonstrated a keen interest in the combination of art with technology and science. However, although fascinated with the technological aspects of the computer as a new approach to creating art, Schwartz was most concerned with the finished product — the permanent work of art. In the early computer works therefore, one will find the somewhat limited results of the computer program enhanced with beautiful colors in more traditional materials, such as silkscreen and film. In time, the technology advanced to the degree that her digital works created with the computer could be viewed in their finished state on a high quality monitor and printed out with the intensity and nuances of color desired. She continues to experiment and to push the medium to achieve the results for which she is striving.” [The Lillian Feldman Schwartz Collection, 2010]