Born in Philadelphia, PA on March 29, 1898, Willard Nash studied art with John P. Wicker in Detroit. At 16 he was a successful commercial artist in Detroit and the highest paid boy soprano in the U.S.

He also acted on the Detroit stage and enjoyed a brief career as an amateur boxer.

At age 22 he moved to Santa Fe, NM and became active with Los Cinco Pintores. Nash moved to California in 1933. After a brief period of teaching in San Francisco, he taught at the Art Center School in Los Angeles, a position he held until shortly before his death in Albuquerque on Sept. 3, 1942.

While his early works show the influence of Cézanne and the Fauves, he also experimented with other modern idioms such as Cubism and Abstrac

Source: Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940"
American Art Annual 1921-33; Artists of the American West (Doris Dawdy) SF Chronicle, 1-15-1933; Who's Who in American Art 1936-41; Artists of the American West (Samuels); NY Times & Los Angeles Times, 9-3-1942 (obits).

Nearly 20,000 biographies can be found in Artists in California 1786-1940 by Edan Hughes and is available for sale ($150). For a full book description and order information please click here....