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Nathan Oliveira

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An Oral History Interview with

Nathan Oliveira

Nathan Oliveira was a leading artist in the Bay Area figurative movement and a professor of art at Stanford University for 32 years.

A photo of artist Nathan Oliveira painting at an easel.
Photo: Chuck Painter / Stanford News Service

Nathan Oliveira was a leading artist in the Bay Area figurative movement and a professor of art at Stanford University for 32 years.  Born in Oakland, California in 1928 to Portuguese immigrant parents, Oliveira studied art at Mills College in 1950 and at the California College of Arts and Crafts. He graduated with a BFA in 1951 and an MFA in 1952. From 1952 to 1953, and from 1955 to 1956, Oliveira taught at the California College of Arts and Crafts. He also taught at the Richmond Art Center and at San Francisco's Art Institute. In 1959, Oliveira’s work was included in the exhibition “New Images of Man” at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.  In 1963, the University of California, Los Angeles mounted a show of his paintings and works on paper.

In 1964 Oliveira joined the faculty of the Department of Art and Art History at Stanford University. In 1988, Oliveira became the first faculty member to hold the Ann O'Day Maples Professorship in the Arts at Stanford. He retired in 1996. Nathan Oliveira died on November 13, 2010 at his Stanford home. He was 81.

His awards include a Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation grant (1957), a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship (1958), and a National Endowment for the Arts grant (1974). In 1994, Oliveira was elected a fellow in the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. In 1999, he received the Commander of the Order of Henry the Navigator from the president of Portugal, awarded to individuals who have expanded Portuguese culture and history. His art has been exhibited in cities all over the world, including New York, Washington DC, San Francisco, London, Yokohama, Melbourne, Paris, and Stockholm.

Interview Excerpt

Interview Excerpt: Stanford and the Windhover Paintings