Tom Gavitt - Biography

Born in New York’s Catskill Mountains, Tom has been an intermittent resident of New Mexico for more than 50 years. His newest work is painted in acrylic, after a 10-year sabbatical from painting. He works in two distinctly different styles relying on sensitive interpretation of realistically rendered subjects in his Eastern painting series and boldly colored, high-key, light filled and loosely rendered interpretations of Native American villages and landscapes in his Southwestern series of paintings. In juxtaposition, the two styles are startlingly different, and Tom frequently does a show in which both styles are fully represented.

Tom has produced over 5000 watercolor paintings, which are represented in private collections all over the world. Though he has painted in settings throughout the United States, the primary thrust of his work has been color studies of Taos Pueblo in New Mexico and of small saltwater boats on the New England coast. As a result of a trip to Portugal, he began a series of Portuguese landscape and marine paintings. He has been the featured artist in galleries throughout the United States and Europe.

Tom is a past president of the Santa Fe Society of Artists and has served as both corresponding secretary and show chairman for the same group. He has also been a board member of the Santa Fe Society of Artists and the Santa Fe Artists League. He has won awards in many art shows, including first place, 2-dimensional in the Western Impressions show in Indio, California, Artists’ Choice Awards and three Awards of Excellence in the well-known La Quinta Art Festival. He, lastly, won his third award in the prestigious Bruce Museum show in Greenwich, as well as his second award in Connecticut’s SoNo Art Festival.

Tom is a dedicated artist who, at 84 years of age, is creating his paintings through focus, concentration, and love.