Landscape painter William Alexander Gaw was born in San Francisco, California in 1891. His father, Hugh Gaw, was also an artist, a watercolorist. With an early interest in art, Gaw enrolled in the San Francisco Art Institute as a youth. There he studied under James Martin Griffin, a landscape painter.

Gaw exhibited his work in the San Francisco area in 1912 before moving to Berkeley by 1923. He spent the rest of his life there and painted many landscapes inspired by his local surroundings. Later in his career Gaw lectured on the science of color and technique.

He was known to have painted using bright colors and experimented in both Cubist and Post-Impressionist art forms. Gaw was also a teacher in the 1930's at the California School of Fine Art. Later he served as Chairman of the Art department at Mills College in Oakland, California between 1942 and 1957.

Throughout his life Gaw actively exhibited at museums and Galleries such as The Corcoran Gallery (1940's), J.B. Speed Museum of Art (1948), and The California Palace of Legion of Honor in the years; 1932,1945,1946,1949.

He died in Berkeley in 1973.

Solo Exhibitions: Maxwell Gallery, San Francisco

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
60th Annual Painting and Sculpture Exhibition of the San Francisco Art Association at the San Francisco Museum of Art, 1940
61st Annual Painting and Sculpture Exhibition of the San Francisco Art Association at the San Francisco Museum of Art, 1941
62nd Annual Painting and Sculpture Exhibition of the San Francisco Art Association at the San Francisco Museum of Art, 1942
65th Annual Painting and Sculpture Exhibition of the San Francisco Art Association at the San Francisco Museum of Art, 1945
First Spring Annual Exhibition, CaliforniaPalace of The Legion of Honor 1946
Third Annual Exhibition of Painting, California Palace of The Legion of Honor 1949
Fifth Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Painting, California Palace of Legion of Honor 1952;
The Oakland Museum, California. A Period of Exploration: San Francisco 1945-1950; 1973
Literature: Edan Hughes, Artists in California 1786-1940

Source:
David J Carlson, Carlson Gallery, California. Carlson's specialty is Post-World War II California artists, and he is preparing a catalogue for a 2004 traveling exhibition of these artists to several California museums.

Modernist painter William Alexander Gaw was born in San Francisco, California in 1891. His father, Hugh Gaw, was also an artist, a watercolorist. With an early interest in art, Gaw enrolled in the San Francisco Art Institute as a youth. There he studied under James Martin Griffin, a landscape painter.

He was known to have painted using bright colors and experimented in Cubist, Surrealist, and Post-Impressionist art forms. and was associated with the The Society of Six. Gaw was also a teacher in the 1930's-50's at the California School of Fine Art. Later he served as Chairman of the Art department at Mills College in Oakland, California between 1942 and 1957.

William Gaw exhibited his work in the San Francisco area in 1912 before moving to Berkeley by 1923. Later in his career Gaw lectured on the science of color and technique at the California School of Fine Art.

Among William Gaw's student at The California School of Fine Art from 1945-51 were Jeremy Anderson, James Budd Dixon, Jack Jefferson, James Weeks, Ernest Briggs, John Grillo, John Hultberg, George Stillman, Frank Lobdell, Edward Dugmore, Madeline Diamond, Deborah Remington, Philip Roeber, Jon Schueler, John Saccaro, James Kelly and Irene Pattinson. During this time Salvador Dali, Man Ray and Edward Weston gave lectures at the CSFA.

Solo Exhibitions: Maxwell Gallery, San Francisco, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, 1935, 1945, 1946, 1949 (solo)

Selected Group Exhibitions: Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1933; San Francisco Art Association 1916-24 Art Institute of Chicago, 1932, 1945 ; 1939 Worlds Fair NY, Corcoran Gallery of Art, 1939, 1941, 1949, Golden Gate International Exposition, 1939, 60th Annual Painting and Sculpture Exhibition of the San Francisco Art Association at the San Francisco Museum of Art, 1940; 61st Annual Painting and Sculpture Exhibition of the San Francisco Art Association at the San Francisco Museum of Art, 1941; New York World's Fair, 1939; Carnegie Institution, 1941; Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1942 62nd Annual Painting and Sculpture Exhibition of the San Francisco Art Association at the San Francisco Museum of Art, 1942; 65th Annual Painting and Sculpture Exhibition of the San Francisco Art Association at the San Francisco Museum of Art, 1945; Pepsi Cola Paintings Of The Year, First Spring Annual Exhibition, California Palace of The Legion of Honor 1946; The Walker Art Center, Syracuse Museum of Fine Art, NY 1947; Third Annual Exhibition of Painting, California Palace of The Legion of Honor 1949; Fifth Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Painting, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, 1951, 1952, A Period of Exploration: San Francisco 1945-1950; 1973

Literature: Edan Hughes, Artists in California 1786-1940
David J. Carlson, Carlson Gallery, Carmel, CA
Mary Fuller: A Period of Exploration: San Francisco 1945-1950; 1973

Source:
Miller Fine Art