Al Gury

Professor
A smiling man with glasses and a black shirt gently holds a small, fluffy gray and white kitten in both hands inside a room with an exit sign.
About
Department
Painting
Drawing
Academic Program
Continuing Education
gury@pobox.pafa.edu
Website
He/Him/His/Himself

Al Gury is an artist, educator, and writer. He is a Professor of Painting and Drawing at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, America’s oldest and first Art School and Art Museum. As a painter, Al explores the tension between representation and the formal possibilities of color, composition and content. Harmony and visual poetry are a focus of his interpretations of nature.

Deeply committed to art education, he teaches many courses on painting, drawing and art history, as well as teaching art education methods to undergraduate and graduate students, and is the founder and instructor of a large, free, after school art education program at PAFA for underserved inner city high school students. National and international workshops are also a regular part of his engagement in art education. He is also a lecturer at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia.

He has specialties in color for painters, master techniques, anatomy, portrait, figure and landscape painting.

As a writer, Al Gury has written three books for Penguin-Random House on art methods and art history, Alla Prima, Color for Painters and Foundations of Drawing. In addition, he has authored dozens of articles on art and art history for museums and art publications in the US and Europe such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, Artists and Craftsman Magazine and numerous other venues. Al’s specialties include the traditions and use of color in painting, old master and contemporary painting methods, the history of drawing methods, and the traditions and practices in portrait and landscape painting.

Al Gury is a practicing painter, with regular one person exhibitions at the F.A.N. Gallery in Philadelphia, as well as galleries and museums in other states.

Very involved over the years in many community and social justice activities, including with homeless persons, inner city youth and the Mural Arts Project in Philadelphia, Al is a cat foster parent and advocate for animal rescue and nursing care via the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society.

Artwork by Al Gury

An expressive oil painting depicts a seated nude woman in an armchair, a standing nude man in the background, and a black cat perched nearby in a dimly lit interior setting.
At Home, 2011, oil on panel, 48 x 36 in.
A pastel drawing on light blue paper depicting a female nude torso from the thighs up, rendered with soft blended strokes of peach, cream, and shadow tones.
A pastel figure study of a female torso against a blue background.
An impressionistic oil painting of a bearded man with long brown hair tied back in a low ponytail, looking downward with a pensive expression against a muted grey background.
A portrait of a man with a beard and mustache
An oil painting captures a close-up portrait of a woman with long, dark wavy hair looking thoughtfully to the left under warm, dramatic lighting.
A portrait of a woman
A side-by-side diptych painting depicting a full-body study of a larger female figure on the left and a lean male figure on the right, both rendered in a textured, painterly style with cool pink and purple skin tones.
Adam and Eve, 2006, oil on canvas, 40 x 60 in.
An impressionistic autumn landscape painting featuring vibrant orange and deep red trees contrasted against a bright yellow meadow under a swirling blue and cream sky.
Autumn
A vibrant, modern Alla Prima portrait painting of a Black woman with dark locs and a bright blue headwrap, rendered in expressive, colorful brushstrokes of violet, orange, and teal.
A portrait of a woman
A vibrant, Fauvist-style oil painting depicts a seated nude figure rendered in blocky, expressive brushstrokes of purple, orange, and green against a geometric, colorful background.
Model at rest, 16x16
A vibrant Fauvist-inspired oil painting by Al Gury depicts an interior still life featuring a glass jar of bright yellow sunflowers and a ceramic bowl filled with oranges and pears on a draped table, set against a blue-framed window overlooking a lavender house.
Still life with Landscape, 24x18

Read More

Colorful landscape with trees and meadow in the background.
Event

Group Critique with Al Gury (Online)

Al Gury stands in front of group of students, leading in-studio lecture
Story

Painting Faculty Al Gury Finds Reward in Advocacy

Go Fish, Michael Gallagher, n.d.
Event

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