Ann Gale

Who is Ann Gale?

Ann Gale is an American figurative painter based in Seattle, Washington. She is known for her portrait paintings, which consist of an accumulation of small color patches expressing the changing light and the shifting position of her models over time. Some of her main influences include Lucian Freud, Alberto Giacometti, and Antonio López García.

Gale works from live models and her process is lengthy. Once she begins to paint, she works for three-hour sessions, and takes from four months to two years to complete a painting. Her pieces possess a strong psychological component due to the amount of time she spends with her models.

Gale received her BFA from the Rhode Island College in 1988 and her MFA from Yale University in 1991. She has been the recipient of several awards including: Western States Art Federation/National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant, Trust Grant/GAP Award and a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship. The artist's work has been shown in galleries and museums across the United States including solo exhibitions at the Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon and the Weatherspoon Art Museum at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Gale is a professor of painting at the University of Washington School of Art. She is married to the classical guitarist and composer Michael Nicolella.