Biography provided by the Gemanis Family (2005)

GEORGE GEMANIS (1920 – 2005)…Born: Porterville CA

Studied: Fresno State College (Fresno CA), Special Study with Alexandra Bradshaw at Fresno State College, Instituto de Allende (San Miguel de Allende, Mexico)

Exhibited: Coffee’s Gallery and L’Entrepeneur Gallery in Fresno CA, the Alethia Gallery and Lacky Gallery in Carmel, the Who’s Who Gallery in Monterey, prize winners in the Fresno District Fair, and the California State Fair, the Lindsay Art Association, and the Kingsburg Art Association. He is published in Who’s Who in Art. Gemanis’ prizewinning Basket Weavers was reproduced in How to Paint a Winner, in Prize Winning Paintings (Vol. 5), and Award-Winning Art all published by Allied Publications.

George Gemanis was born in Porterville, CA and lived most of his life in Fresno, CA. He served honorably as a Marine Corps Captain fighter pilot during WW II. He subsequently graduated from Fresno State College with degrees in Fine Art and English.

By 1946, he was married and working as a commercial artist. He began painting seriously in 1960 when he entered his first art exhibit. Gemanis mastered several different media including oil and acrylic (using brush and palette knife) and oil pastels. He painted a wide variety of subjects and is known for his still lifes, landscapes, foreign street scenes, portraits, and his compelling seascapes.

Gemanis and his wife, Margaret, raised two daughters and traveled extensively abroad visiting most of Europe (sketching especially in Greece and Spain), Morocco, Egypt, and many Asian and South American countries. They visited Mexico over 25 times. Gemanis got many ideas for his paintings from these travels. Photography came second nature to him, and along with some awards, his pictures yielded ideas for future paintings. The family had a vacation beach home for many years at La Selva Beach, CA which was an “open house” to family and friends. This began Gemanis’s love affair with the ocean. His seascapes are magnificent and capture the many moods of the ocean.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Gemanis became increasingly in demand and popular for demonstrating his techniques. He gave numerous lecture demonstrations in California’s Central Valley—Porterville, Taft, Los Banos, Kingsburg, and Dinuba. Those in attendance not only learned about art and painting techniques, they also enjoyed Gemanis’ sense of humor and stories.

George Gemanis died in Fresno, CA on June 2, 2005.