Nell Walker Warner was born April 1, 1891 in Richardson County, Nebraska. She was a graduate of the Lexington, MO Women's College in 1910. Following a brief teaching assignment in Colorado Springs, CO, she moved to Los Angeles, CA and studied at the Los Angeles School of Art and Design, receiving a diploma in 1916. She then taught art classes at the Hollywood School for Girls and Westlake School for Girls (1916-1918), and later did backgrounds for titles of silent motion pictures. She also traveled in Europe and spent three summers in Cape Ann, MA painting harbor scenes.

During the 1920s she was art curator of the Tuesday Afternoon Club and further studied locally with Nicolai Fechin, Fritz Werner, and Paul Lauritz in Los Angeles. She moved to Carmel, CA in 1952, but at some point she lived in Reserve (Brown County) before moving to California. A picture of a corner of her library painted by her was on the cover page of the Literary Digest in the early 1930s. A book titled How Nell Walker Warner Paints in Oils (Laguna Beach, CA: Walter T. Foster, n.d.) was published in the 1950s or 60s.

Memberships:
California Art Club; Glendale Art Association; California Watercolor Society; Laguna Beach Art Association; Artland Club; Academy of Western Painters; Pasadena Society of Artists; Women Painters of the West (pres. 1946-48); Society of Western Artists; Carmel Art Association.

Exhibitions:
Laguna Beach Art Association; Pasadena Art Institute; Artists of Southern California, San Diego; Arizona State Fair, Phoenix; Pasadena Society of Artists; Springville Museum of Art, UT; Golden Gate International Exposition; Carmel Art Association; Academy of Western Painters; California Watercolor Society; Gardena High School; Women Painters of the West; Ebell Club; Artists Fiesta; California Art Club, 1925-38; Wilshire Gallery, 1928;; Desert Sun Gallery, Palm Springs, 1937; Golden Gate International Exposition 1940; Society for Sanity in Art, California Palace of the Legion of Honor 1945; Artists Guild of America, 1953, 1955, 1960, 1963.

Awards:
First prize, Artists of the Southwest; Southern California Fair, 1925; Medals, California Eisteddfod, 1925; 3rd prize, California State Fair, 1929; 1st prize, California State Fair, 1931; Santa Cruz Art League, 1930.

Collections:
Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Kevin Derby provided this biography from www.fleischer.org/femvision.htm

Floral and landscape painter, Nell Walker Warner was born April 1, 1891 in Nebraska. She was educated in Colorado Springs and Missouri before graduating from the Los Angeles School of Art & Design in 1916.

After her graduation, she instructed art classes and painted backdrops for silent films. She furthered her studies under the tutelage of Nicolai Fechin, Fritz Werner and Paul Lauritz. She traveled throughout Europe and spent three summers painting in Cape Ann, Massachusetts. Here she painted many ocean and harbor scenes.

La Canada, California remained her home until after her second marriage when she moved north to Carmel. She was very active in the art clubs and organizations of California and won many awards and prizes for her work until her death in l970.

Nell Walker Warner (1891-1970) (Los Angeles)

Flower and landscape painter of Southern California who visited Morro Bay in 1926 and 1928.

Source: Nancy Dustin Wall Moure, MORRO BAY (including LOS OSOS, BAYWOOD PARK and CAYUCOS) ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY BEFORE 1960 (Publications in [Southern] California Art, vol. 13, no. I), Los Angeles: Dustin Publications, 2016.

Born near Falls City, Nebraska on April 1, 1891, Nell Walker graduated from the Lexington, MO Women's College in 1910. Following a brief teaching assignment in Colorado Springs, she moved to Los Angeles and studied at the Los Angeles School of Art and Design, receiving a diploma in 1916. She then taught art classes at the Hollywood School for Girls and the Westlake School for Girls (1916-1918) and later did backgrounds for titles of silent motion pictures.

After her marriage to Dr. Bion S. Warner in 1920, she traveled in Europe and spent three summers in Cape Ann (MA) where she painted many harbor scenes; however, southern California remained her home.

During the 1920s she was art curator of the Tuesday Afternoon Club and further studied locally with Nicolai Fechin, Fritz Werner, and Paul Lauritz in Los Angeles.

Although divorced from her first husband, she continued to use his name professionally even after she married Emil Shorstrom in 1945. In 1952 they moved north to Carmel where she remained until her death on Nov. 30, 1970. Antony Anderson, art critic of the Los Angeles Times, stated that she was one of the ablest flower painters America has produced. Her work also includes landscapes of California and New England coast.

Member: California Art Club; Glendale Art Association; California WC Society; Laguna Beach Art Association; Artland Club; Academy of Western Painters (LA); Pasadena Society of Artists; Women Painters of the West (pres. 1946-48); Society of Western Artists; Carmel Art Association.

Exhibited: Warner received one-woman exhibitions in Los Angeles, New York, Portland (Oregon), Oklahoma City, and Hawaii. She exhibited in shows of the Laguna Beach Art Association; Pasadena Art Institute; Artists of Southern California, San Diego; Arizona State Fair, Phoenix; Pasadena Society of Artists; Springville Museum of Art, Utah; GGIE; Carmel Art Association; Academy of Western Painters; California Watercolor Society; Gardena High School; Women Painters of the West; Ebell Club; Artists Fiesta; Artists of the Southwest; Southern California Fair, 1925 (1st prize); California Eisteddfod, 1925 (four gold and silver medals); California Art Club, 1925-38; Wilshire Gallery (LA), 1928; California State Fair, 1929 (3rd prize), 1931 (1st prize); Santa Cruz Art League, 1930 (prize); Desert Sun Gallery (Palm Springs), 1937 (solo); GGIE, 1940; Society for Sanity in Art, CPLH, 1945; Artists Guild of America (Carmel), 1953, 1955, 1960, 1963 (solos).

Walker is represented in the collection of the City of Los Angeles; Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Sources:
Edan Hughes, Artists in California, 1786-1940
Phil Kovinick; Marian Yoshiki Kovinick, An Encyclopedia of Women Artists of the American West
Patricia Trenton, Independent Spirits: Women Painters of the American West

Nell Walker Warner was born in Richardson County, Nebraska, in 1891. Her art studies were at the Los Angeles School of Art and Design. She was an active member of the southern California art community, where she studied with Paul Lauritz and Nicolai Fechin, and curated the Tuesday Afternoon Club in Los Angeles.

In 1950 she moved to Carmel, where she died in 1970.

She is best remembered for her floral still lifes, and New England harbor scenes.