Jack Scott
San Francisco, CA | Marin County, CA — b. 1953
Jack Scott spent years learning to draw with near-perfect precision before deciding that what he actually wanted to show had nothing to do with things. Starting in the mid-1970s, he began covering large unstretched canvases with thousands of hand-drawn arcs in charcoal — building surfaces that seem to breathe, flicker, and pull you in. The work caught the attention of critics and institutions across the country, then went quietly out of sight for decades. Most of these pieces haven't been seen since the 1980s.
Selected Works
Jack Scott, "Black Arc, High Arc" (1976) Charcoal on canvas, 60"x 90"
Jack Scott, "Dark Horse" (1978) & "Long Shot" (1978) Charcoal on canvas
Jack Scott "One" (1980) Charcoal on canvas, 150" x 120"
Jack Scott, "Low Arc" (1976) & "Re-Entry" (1976) Charcoal on canvas
Jack Scott "Clear Lobe" (1977) Charcoal on canvas, 83" x 57"
Jack Scott, "SlowBlur" (1976) & "T-Blur" (1977) "Light Black Blur#2" (1978) Charcoal on canvas
Jack Scott "Black Rest" (1977) Charcoal on canvas, 77" x 60"
Jack Scott, "Death" (1976) & "Pair of Urns" (1970s) Charcoal on canvas
Jack Scott "#28" (1980) Charcoal on paper, 40" x 30"
Jack Scott "Airveil" (1976) Charcoal on canvas, 94" x 60"
Jack Scott, "Black Drawing" (1976) Charcoal on canvas, 92" x 60"
Jack Scott, "Clear Lobe" (1977) & "T-Blur" (1977) & "Slow Blur" Charcoal on canvas
Jack Scott, "Object and Frame" (1983-84) Charcoal on panel
Jack Scott, "#8" (1980) Charcoal on paper, 40" x 30"
Jack Scott, "One" (1980) Charcoal on canvas, 150" x 120"
Jack Scott, "Clear Lobe" (1977), Charcoal on canvas, 83" x 57"
Jack Scott, "Untitled" (1976) 240" x 120" & "One" (1980) 150" x 120" Charcoal on canvas
Jack Scott "Light Black Blur #2" (1978) & "Black Rest" (1977) Charcoal on canvas
"The best review of Jack Scott's exhibition would be a blank space. His works must be seen."
— Robert McDonald,Artweek
About the work
Jack and I installing “One” at the San Francisco Fall Show
The early turn: Jack Scott started as a realist. He could spend 300 hours on a single painting and produce something technically immaculate. But somewhere along the way he realized that what interested him wasn't the thing itself — it was the light around it, the atmosphere, the peripheral blur. The color field painters of the mid-century and the Los Angeles light and space artists were speaking a language he wanted to learn. By 1975, he had stopped using paint and color entirely.
The method: What emerged was something almost impossibly simple: a single repeated mark — a drawn arc — applied thousands of times to raw, unstretched canvas until the accumulation created something that looked like atmosphere. Fog. Depth. He pressed harder where he wanted darkness. He left the canvas bare where he wanted light. No accidents, and no shortcuts. A large drawing could take three or four months.
"Mark-making is direct, primitive and simple. You press harder, it gets darker. Time equals dark." — Jack Scott
Critical reception: The work was recognized immediately. Reviewers at the San Francisco Chronicle, Artforum, Artweek, and the Los Angeles Times covered his shows. The UC Davis Aggie called his work "phenomenal." Artweek's Robert McDonald wrote that the only honest review would be silence — that the drawings had to be seen. In 1981, the NEA agreed, awarding Scott a fellowship in drawing.
Teaching and legacy: Scott taught for 40 years — at the College of Marin, the Academy of Art in San Francisco, UC Berkeley, and UC Davis — before retiring in 2018. He was invited to teach at Berkeley after David Simpson saw his work at the Acme Art gallery in San Francisco. He taught Wayne Thiebaud's final MFA review at Davis. His influence runs through a generation of Bay Area artists.
Exhibitions, Press & Recognition
Solo Exhibitions
1976 Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art
1977 William Sawyer Gallery, San Francisco
1978 William Sawyer Gallery, San Francisco
1978 Richard L. Nelson Gallery, UC Davis
1982 Hansen Fuller Goldeen Gallery, San Francisco
1983 Kirk deGooyer Gallery, Los Angeles
1984 Kirk deGooyer Gallery, Los Angeles
1986 1640 Seventh Street, Oakland
1986 San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery
1987 WORKS/San Jose (with Phyllis Shafer)
1987 Acme Art, San Francisco
1991 "Art as Time," Solano Community CollegeAwards
1973–74 Exhibition/Purchase Award, College of Marin 1978 Honors, MFA Program, San Francisco Art Institute 1981 National Endowment for the Arts, Artist Fellowship (Drawing)
1980, 1981 Finalist, S.E.C.A. Award, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
1988 Finalist, S.E.C.A. Award, SFMOMA 1987 First Award, Individual Artists Grant, Marin Arts Council
Selected group Exhibitions
1976 "Introductions '76," William Sawyer Gallery, SF
1976 "Inside Out," SF State University
1978 "Nine New Masters," Tortue Gallery, Los Angeles
1978 Newport Harbor Art Museum, Los Angeles
1978 "Four Artists," Rivera Gallery, SFAI
1978 MFA Exhibition, Zellerbach Gallery, SFAI (Award)
1979 "New Talent," Bertha Urdang Gallery, New York
1980 Janus Gallery, Venice, California
1980–90 Faculty Exhibition, Academy of Art, SF
"California Drawings," Modernism, SFPublications
Fischer, Hal — ARTFORUM
Wilson, William — Los Angeles Times
Rosenthal, Adrienne — ARTWEEK
Albright, Thomas — SF Chronicle
Gardener, Colin — ARTWEEK
Solnit, Rebecca — Pacific Sun
Pincus, Robert — Los Angeles Times
McDonald, Robert — ARTWEEK
Frankenstein, Alfred — SF Chronicle
Albright, Thomas, Art in the San Francisco Bay Area 1945–1980COllection & Access
Studio MGH works directly with Jack Scott to place drawings with collectors and institutions. Available works range from studies on paper to monumental canvases exceeding 20 feet, spanning 1975 to present. Access to the collection, artist materials, and pricing is provided upon request.
More Artists
Bill Shields
Large-scale abstract oil paintings and intimate pastel landscapes by a celebrated American illustrator whose clients included the New York Stock Exchange, Neiman Marcus, and NASA — with work featured in Architectural Digest.
Sylvia Rutkoff
Mid-century figurative and abstract paintings, rediscovered and placed in collections across the country. A trailblazer of her generation.
Myril Adler
Eight decades of work across painting, printmaking, and mixed media — by one of American art's great teachers.