Self Portrait, 1965, Oil on canvas, 42 x 22 in

Bruce McGaw

Bruce McGaw was an American painter and educator. He is part of the Bay Area Figurative Movement, and was professor emeritus of the San Francisco Art Institute. He studied in the 1950's at the California College of the Arts. McGaw's work consists largely of medium to large-scale oil paintings and charcoal drawings featuring human figures in moments of quite repose, still lives of vignettes found often in his studio and landscapes capturing the powerful light of the San Francisco Bay Area cast on the mixed industrial and working-class suburbs of East Bay towns like Emeryville, California. An avid student of art history and poetry he cites significant texts and relationships with colleagues among the most important influences in his studio practice.

Bruce McGaw Artwork