08/29/2026
Born On This Day: Dennis Hare (1946–2024)
On this day in 1946, Dennis Hare was born in Glendale, California, an artist who spent decades pushing figuration into something rawer and more physical than the canvas usually allows.
Hare came to painting late, after years as a nationally ranked beach volleyball champion, and taught himself the craft by studying the masters directly in museums. Working within the Bay Area Figurative tradition, he built his surfaces thick, layering oil paint with scraps of fabric, newspaper, and other weathered found objects until the materials themselves carried as much meaning as the image.
Hare described his subjects as things “simple, imperfect, humble”, and painted with an instinct for the human moments most artists smooth over.
His work is held in the collection of the Crocker Art Museum, alongside numerous private collections across the country.
Featured painting:
Untitled (Dennis Hare), n.d., oil on canvas
Link in bio to learn more about the artist. Winfield Gallery