BIO
GAIL LEHMAN lives and works in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, and is represented by galleries in Carmel-by-the-Sea and Madrid, Spain. Born in New York City, she spent her childhood and early adult years on the East Coast, attending Cornell University and Harvard College, where she studied Government and Design.
Before devoting herself to painting, Lehman was an award-winning architectural designer responsible for more than 2.5 million square feet of commercial high-rise offices and hospitals. Her transition to abstract expressionism has established her as a respected contemporary artist whose work is now collected on three continents, including the recent addition of collectors in Hong Kong.
In 2013, her painting The Lady in Red was donated to Marywood University in Scranton, Pennsylvania, by one of her collectors in honor of his grandmother. A commissioned companion painting, created to commemorate the collector's mother and support a scholarship in her name, will be installed alongside the original work.
In 2023, Lehman was selected as one of 300 finalists for the Crocker-Kingsley Exhibition from a field of more than 2,500 applicants.
Artist Statement
When I look at a clean canvas the excitement rises in me, akin to an author beginning to tell a story, a composer creating a symphony. My vision is focused on that square of canvas in front of me. I never plan a painting, but watch it evolve layer by layer, color on color. A joy in discovery! I scrape away sections, lines, deleting and adding until over days sometimes weeks, that moment is there and I feel completion. A collector once wrote to me, “Gail’s canvases are filled with luminosity and sophistication. It is a great pleasure to own her work.”
During the past eighteen years, I was fortunate to have solo shows on the Monterey Peninsula, San Francisco and in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. In the spring of 2011, while on a trip to Spain, I made contact with a woman who “loved” my work, asked to represent me and consequently there are 18 paintings in Valencia, Spain. I now have private collectors in Boston, Berkeley, Denver, St. Louis, San Francisco and the Bay area, San Diego, San Jose, the Monterey Peninsula and in Europe in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Paris and Valencia.
My great inspiration is the sea. I walk along the beach each day and see the forms and changing colors of the sky, the sand, the rocks and the water. I am awed by the Abstract Expressionists who opened the world to a new style of painting; primarily Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning, Juan Miro, Joan Mitchell, Jackson Pollock and Gerhard Richter.
Solo Exhibitions
| Year | Venue | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | A Venue Gallery | San Francisco, California |
| 2014 | Arps & Co. | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| 2011 | Artist of the Month, Santana Row | San Jose, California |
| 2010 | Sylvan Gallery | Sand City, California |
Selected Group Exhibitions
| Year(s) | Venue | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | The Epperson Gallery | California |
| 2025-2026 | San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild | San Diego, California |
| 2023 | Blue Line Arts Lottery Show | Roseville, California |
| 2022-2023 | Crocker-Kingsley Exhibition | Sacramento / Roseville, California |
| 2022 | Cherry Foundation, Make Merry at the Cherry | California |
| 2020 | Sunset Center, You Can't Quarantine Creativity | Carmel-by-the-Sea, California |
| 2018, 2022-2023 | Sunset Center Bach Festival | Carmel-by-the-Sea, California |
| 2018, 2011 | Artist Equity Open Studios | Carmel-by-the-Sea, California |
| 2013-2014 | Art Basel Miami | Miami Beach, Florida |
| 2012-2016 | Monterey Museum of Art | Monterey, California |
| 2010-2013 | Central Coast Art Association | Monterey, California |
| 2008-2013 | Pacific Grove Art Center | Pacific Grove, California |
| 2009 | City of Sand City at Sylvan Gallery | Sand City, California |
Honors, Awards & Collections
- 2023 - Finalist, Crocker-Kingsley Exhibition, Sacramento, California
- 2023 - Finalist, Blue Line Arts, Roseville, California
- Honorable Mention - 4th Colorful Art Exhibition, Fusion Art, Palm Springs, California
- Artist's Choice Award - Fusion Art, Palm Springs, California
- Marywood University Collection - The Lady in Red, Scranton, Pennsylvania
- Featured in The International Compendium of Women in Design
Community Service
- Vice Chair, Planning Commission, City of Carmel-by-the-Sea (2016-2022)
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