William Broder Gallery
About:
With my father's help, I began painting in oils at age eleven. In 1959 I pursued my path at the San Francisco Art Institute, graduating in 1963.
Having received many awards, and with the encouragement of Richard Debenkorn, I began working in a variety of media and subject matter. Over the years, I received commissions ranging from portraiture to landscapes.
One 40 year project, commissioned by patrons Douglas and Elizabeth Johnson, resulted in 35 diverse paintings including portraits and depictions of early San Francisco.
In the mid-1980s I completed a permanent installation for the Unitarian Church in Berkeley, assembling a 6 foot tall screen featuring 71 portraits of congregational members.
During the 1990s I worked on a series inspired by Jean Cocteau’s 1937 surrealist movie, "Beauty and the Beast." At the same time my burgeoning love of plein air eventually took me to Erickson Ranch in Cordelia to capture the changing seasons and activities of a working orchard. Out painting I get to remove the distance between my nature and "the nature." The action of taking it all in with paint and brush puts me in the here and now like nothing else. It's making love to me.
As artist and teacher, I’ve emphasized externalizing the internal experience of place.
E-mail me directly.
Recent Comments
March 2019
Message: I've had the good luck to get to know Bill recently and even have the portrait he spontaneously sketched of me. I like it, in part, because it feels like he made me look ageless. I could be thirty or I could be eighty. And one of my closest friends who saw it said, "It looks like he got to your essence." I am fascinated by Bill's recent "Gazing" series. I really wish I could go to a "brick and mortar" gallery and be surrounded by Bill's paintings.
December 2018
Message: I've known Bill since he was in art school and was impressed with his early mastery of a variety of media and techniques. But it is his passion that comes through his art that has given me the greatest pleasure. I have in my home early intimate sketches, oil paintings from an early portrait of his sister to later paintings from the Museum and Orchard series plus a wonderful mixed media called "Insane on the Seine." This December I got a painting from his 2018 series on museum watchers that just glows. I relish them every time walk into the room - some as old friends and others as new discoveries.
June 2017
Message: I have several Bill Broder paintings hanging in my home and they are an enchantment to everyone who visits. A piece from the Fog and Spirit collection hangs in my living room, bringing a welcomed touch of the ethereal city into our daily lives. Bill sees the world and those who inhabit it with an authenticity that is both delightful and unexpected.
May 2017
Message: Dear Bill, I'm the harper from Parnassus. It's taken me a few days to sit and wonder (& wander) through your portfolio. What a joy! I LOVE the plein air work; it is so full of emotion and attention to the spirit of the place. It feels free and intuitive and deeply skilled all at once. The lines. And the trees! Oh, I am happy I could play green for you! I believe I must consider playing orange..next. Maybe just work my way around the spectrum. There's much to love. I love the portraits too. I think you must like your subjects.. And I love the way you use white. While Parnassus isn't the best place to meet, I hope our paths cross again. When is your birthday? Thanks for this visual feast. p
October 2016
Message: Hanging in my bathroom is a copy of Bill's San Francisco Pyramid Building from his Fog and Spirit collection. I love it because to me it captures the essence of San Fran spirit with the smiling moon laughing down on the exploits of the slightly risque city below. I love Bill's Plein Air pictures. The Primrose 2003 radiates joy. Bill's use of color and shape in the entire collection is truly wonderful. Sue
August 2016
Message: We are the proud owners of Bill Broder's self portrait shown above. We love it. It is hanging at the end of our hallway where we can see it every time we walk down the hall. I even greet it and talk to it. It is so whimsical! It makes me smile each time I see it. I also love Bill's other art - his portraits and his landscapes. Each portrait has such substance to it. I feel as if I know these people or wish that I knew them. Sandy