Jerry Decamp

I fell in love with art at a young age upon seeing the Cezanne still lifes in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.For three years I took drawing classes with Wilma Wall, the lead graphic artist at the Chicago Sun Times. Moving to California after a metaphysical experience in the mountains outside of Los Angeles, I seek to try to capture the beauty and joy of nature.My work is largely oil on canvas, but also includes hundreds of prints and drawings. As I have been painting for over 40 years, my work has also been influenced by France, where I keep a studio, and the American Southwest, a magical place.

In the BA program, I studied painting and printmaking at UC Davis with Wayne Thiebaud, Roland Peterson. David Hollowell and Cornelia Schulz. Wayne Thiebaud nominated me to Phi Beta Kappa and wrote that I had "great facility" in drawing, high praise indeed. I was also awarded Outstanding Studio Artist awards by UC Davis two years in a row. . Roland appointed me Technician at the Print Lab at UCD for a year after that. I then returned for a Master's in Art History and studied with Seymour Howard, Jeff Ruda and Mary Fong, Mary said that I was the best student that had ever been in the Art History Program. I received 3 years of University Travel Awards to study Italian Art History. I was asked to join the nascent PhD. Art History program at Davis, but the Regents decided not to finalize the program due to budget cuts. But I did receive seven years of full support from the University.

Gallerie Etienne de Causans, Rue de Seine, Paris, Fall 2022