Biography

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 20 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 is the foremost annual conference and trade show in the art and framing industry.

In 2009 Bruce became an elected member of the prestigious Salmagundi Club in New York and in 2011 was awarded signature member status in the Oil Painters of America.

 Throughout his career, Bruce has also participated in numerous shows and has exhibited in several galleries in New Jersey; New York, Washington, D.C.; New Mexico, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Texas and Tennessee.