William Gaw is a California painter best known for his landscapes and still-lifes. Born in San Francisco, California, Gaw was the son of a watercolorist who inspired his early interest in art. Gaw gained his artistic training at the San Francisco Art Institute. As a pupil of artist James Martin Griffin, he became an avid landscape painter. Gaw began exhibiting his work in and around San Francisco area and in 1923 settled in Berkeley. He experimented with both Cubist and Post-Impressionist styles. He continued painting the Northern California landscape, as well as teaching at the California School of Fine Art. He also continued an exhibiting. William Gaw became known for his bold colors and expressive brushstrokes. William Gaw served as Chairman of the Art department at Mills College in Oakland, California in the 1940s and 1950s.