Sandra Fisher

Who was Sandra Fisher?

Sandra Maureen Fisher, an expat American figure painter in London, was born in New York City on 6 May 1947. The family moved to Miami in 1948 where her father Gene Fisher was a homebuilder. Her mother Ethel Fisher, a painter, taught her to draw and paint at an early age. In 1961 her mother abandoned the family to travel in Europe and after a divorce, set up her studio in New York. Sandra graduated from Metter High School and, after moving to Los Angeles, California, enrolled in art school. Her first marriage to Garry Gregson ended in divorce in 1970. After a brief return to Los Angeles, Fisher moved to London, England on 8 August 1971 to pursue a painting career full-time. More about her career in London follows below. She died at age 47 from hyperacute haemorrhagic leuco-encephalitis.

Fisher studied minimalist art and sculpture, graduating in 1968 with a BFA from the Chouinard Art Institute, but soon recognised that her compelling ambition was to be an intimate, observational painter.

From 1970 to 1971 she was personal administrative assistant to the American printmaker Ken Tyler at Gemini G.E.L., the print atelier he founded in Los Angeles.