Nathan Oliveira's death on November 13 at the age of 81 had a poetic impact amid its sadness: It drew attention to how remarkably insistent he was in his creativity. The retired art professor, who succumbed at his Stanford home to complications of pulmonary fibrosis and diabetes, still had more than 30 paintings in progress.
John Seed, professor of art and art history at Mt. San Jacinto College in Southern California, described that inspirational outpouring of both small and large oils in a tribute to Oliveira for the Huffington Post. "Nathan was growing as an artist until the last moment," wrote Seed, adding that "in his own art, and in the art that he admired, he was involved in the search for something that transcended time."
Oliveira, recruited to the University faculty in 1964, was also an influential printmaker and sculptor, but his painting had a singular heft: "the most original figurative painter of his time," declared art historian Peter Selz. When Selz was the new curator of painting and sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art in 1959, the New York Times reported, his inclusion of Oliveira in an exhibition generated overnight fame for the painter.
Writing in the Times, William Grimes described Oliveira's work—despite its resistance to "neat categorization"—as "fusing Abstract Expressionism and figuration in psychologically charged canvases that explored human isolation and alienation."
Oliveira's wife, Ramona, died in 2006. He is survived by his children, Lisa Lamoure, Gina Oliveira and Joe Oliveira; five grandchildren; and his sister, Marcia Heath. A memorial was scheduled for January 12 at Stanford Memorial Church.
