CHARLES WESTLY NICHOLSON (1886-1965)

C.W. Nicholson was born near French Lick, Indiana on June 25, 1886. He obtained a teacher’s certificate from the state of Indiana and taught in a log cabin for three years. In 1908 Nicholson moved to Chicago, obtained employment at Marshall Fields, and enrolled at the Art Institute of Chicago. After his art training he traveled with vaudeville shows, painting and designing sets. He later moved to Los Angeles where the movie business would provide employment then settled into a studio and worked as a freelance artist for various movie studios. He traveled in his Model A Ford and painted the desert near Palm Springs, the wild poppies near Bakersfield, missions, and the coast of the Monterey Peninsula. While painting along side the road with his pet cockateel perched on his shoulder, he would display his paintings on his car to passing motorists who readily bought them. C.W. Nicholson died in Los Angeles on December 20, 1965.