(1955-2025)

Masterful Plein Air Paintings

We were greatly saddend to hear of Gary's death this past May (2025), ending a rich and productive thirty-five year personal and gallery relationship. The new exhibition In Memoriam (opening November 22, 2025) honors his unstopable passion for painting, one that could not be suppressed even when physical illness constrained him in his later years. As unstopable was his push to grow as a painter. On view are works from the early 1980's, when Gary was developing his craft, through to this past spring, when he was exploring new expressive techniques and expanded color palette. We want to thank Laurie Clark and Deb Cotrone for their help organizing this show. Gary made an indelible impact on so many artists in the area. He will be missed.

Gary has had his work shown in the gallery's ongoing holdings space since 1998 and been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions here since then. An acknowledged plein air master, Gary Fifer traced his artistic roots to the American Impressionists who painted in New York and Connecticut during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He was a long-time protege of Arthur Maynard who, in turn, studied under Frank V. Dumond and was, himself, taught by Willard Metcalf. Dumond was an instructor at the Art Students League of New York (ASLNY) and the Ridgewood Art Institute, in New Jersey. Fifer also studied with Frank Mason at the ASLNY and, later, at the National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts in New York.

Gary had been home-based in the Manchester, VT, area since 2005, quite a change from his Hudson Valley beginnings. The gallery continues to be his sole representative in the United States.

(WE ARE IN PROCESS OF UPDATING THE PHOTO GALLERY BELOW.)

Work currntly available through the gallery is shown in the first group below (and viewed above). Please click on an image to display a larger version above. Larger photos are available by contacting the gallery.

Nearly all work shown below is SOLD and presented as a sample archive of Gary's painting since joining the gallery. Unmarked work may still be available.

Gary has taken Best of Show awards from the Rye Arts Center; the Kent Art Association, Kent, Connecticut; and the Ridgewood Art Institute. He taught studio and en plein air workshops at the Garrison Art Center in Garrison, New York and the Southern Vermont Arts Center, Manchester, VT. He has lectured and demonstrated on location at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. Gary resided, most recently, in central Vermont, where he painted and gave private lessons.