Born in Brooklyn
in 1958, Bruce Gherman developed an interest in art at an early age. At 16
he studied painting at the Brooklyn Museum Art School with Francis
Cunningham and sculpture with Barney Hodes. In 1977 he won a summer
scholarship to study at the Art Students League in Woodstock, New York,
where he met Albert Handell, with whom he studied drawing the following
year. With a scholarship, he went on to study at the Art Students League of
New York in Manhattan from 1978 to 1982, where he studied primarily with
Frank Manson and Robert Beverly Hale and also took classes with David Leffel
and Daniel Greene. It was from Mason and Leffel that he learned classical
methods of painting and drawing. He also learned how to make his own paints
and properly prepare his canvas using techniques dating back to the 16th
and 17th centuries.
Moving to
Princeton, New Jersey, in 1982 he and his brother Rob owned and operated an
art materials store, frame shop, and gallery. In 1986 Bruce left Princeton
to study painting, sculpture, and frame-making in Italy. In 1989, when he
was starting a trade magazine for picture framing, Bruce met Robert Kulicke.
Kulicke is considered to be the foremost frame designer of the modern era as
well as an equally as gifted painter. Although Bruce at the time was already
an accomplished painter, Bob helped him realize his full potential.
Primarily
influenced by 19th century French and 17th century
Dutch artists, Bruce Gherman’s
art follows the great tradition of classical still life and landscape
painting. Bruce often works on a small and intimate scale, balancing form,
tone, and color to create a pictorial harmony.
Bruce currently
lives in Monmouth County, New Jersey, where he continues to paint and
maintain a studio. He is also the publisher of Picture Framing Magazine, a
trade publication serving the retail picture framing industry, which he has
worked on for the past 17 years. Bruce, along with Deborah Salmon and his
brothers Rob and Dave Gherman, created the West Coast Art & Frame Show and
National Conference in Las Vegas in 2000. This trade show and educational
conference serving is the foremost annual conference and trade show in the
art and framing industry.