About the Artist

Arthur Gain lives and works in Barcelona. He paints portraits and figures in oil, using the language of the Old Masters to look at modern archetypes and the culture that forms them. In person the paintings have the presence of older museum works: luminosity, texture, brushstrokes left deliberately visible, and a lifelike presence that transcends copying. Film, myth, and living sitters supply the types. The feeling is of something already known, brought forward.

Before painting full-time he worked in illustration, graphic design, and advertising. A period of yoga and Buddhist practice in Asia preceded the turn to representational oil. He is self-taught as a painter.

His work has been shown at MEAM (Barcelona), the Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum (United States), and Museo La Contea del Caravaggio (Italy). He is a BoldBrush Award winner and a finalist of the ARC Salon and ModPortrait.

In 2024 he painted the Frankenstein family portrait for Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein. The painting was included in Frankenstein: Crafting a Tale Eternal at The Old Selfridges Hotel, London, and at NYA Studios West, Los Angeles.

He accepts a limited number of private and corporate commissions.

From 2019 to 2024 he taught at the Barcelona Academy of Art — the only self-taught painter on the faculty. He now teaches through Alla Prima Academy and a small number of in-person workshops.

Press

The Undraped Artist Podcast: Arthur Gain

The Bold Brush Show Season 6 Ep 74:  Arthur Gain — Pearls of Wisdom: Dive Deep & Unlock Your Voice

Listen to John Dalton podcast Ep. 239: Arthur Gain

Cover artist, The Guide Artists Magazine, Issue 108 (September 2026)