Dale Nichols (July 13, 1904 – October 19, 1995), also published under his full name, Dale William Nichols, was an American visual artist whose works included

illustrations An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in print and digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, video ...

paintings Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

lithographs Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

, and

wood carvings Wood carving is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation ...

. He is best known for his work as a rural landscape painter. Nichols' work is often classified with that of other regional American

landscape artist Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a coherent composi ...

s, including Grant Wood and Thomas Hart Benton.

Life

Dale William Nichols was born on July 13, 1904, in the small town of

David City, Nebraska David City is a city in Butler County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 2,995 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Butler County. David City was founded in 1873 to serve as the county seat when county residents desired a more ...

. He began his career as an artist while studying at

Chicago Academy of Fine Arts The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which grew into the museum an ...

and spent the greater part of the 1920s and 1930s in Chicago, later becoming the Carnegie Professor in Art at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

. Nichols would then take a position in 1943 as the art editor of the ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...

''. Upon leaving his post at ''Britannica'', Nichols spent the remainder of his life traveling, splitting the majority of his time between

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

and Guatemala. In September 1939, Nichols' was featured in ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' magazine. One reviewer wrote: "Subjects he prefers are the prairie landscapes of his youth, usually snowed under. These famed smooth snow effects Artist Nichols gets by laying on his oils in a thin film with watercolor brushes."

Death and legacy

Nichols died in Sedona, Arizona, on October 19, 1995, at age 91. His art was published on

postcard A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. There are novelty exceptions, such as wood ...

s sold by the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

in 1995. Three of Nichols' paintings are now listed in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The

Museum of Nebraska Art The Museum of Nebraska Art (MONA) is the official art museum of the state of Nebraska. The museum is located in Kearney, Nebraska, and is administratively affiliated with the University of Nebraska at Kearney. The official charter of MONA makes ...

features four of his large

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

s, along with four

and four sketches.

References

* Higdon, Hal (2005)
"Dale Nichols: The East Bound Freight"
*

Dale Nichols BiographyDale William Nichols: artist summary
Invaluable. 1904 births 1995 deaths Painters from Arizona Artists from Tucson, Arizona American lithographers American illustrators 20th-century American painters American male painters People from David City, Nebraska Artists from Nebraska School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni University of Illinois faculty People of the New Deal arts projects 20th-century American printmakers 20th-century American male artists 20th-century lithographers {{US-painter-1900s-stub