William Gollings

A native of Idaho, Elling William “Bill” Gollings grew up on farms in Idaho, Michigan, and New York. As a teenager he left home to travel through South Dakota and Nebraska, working as a cowboy and sheepherder. Fascinated by the work of artists who illustrated the West, particularly the illustrations of Frederic Remington, he purchased an oil painting kit from a catalogue and began learning how to paint. He eventually was able to sell enough paintings and obtain a scholarship to finance studies at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. He also met and studied with a number of other artists during his career, including Joseph Sharp, Edward Borein, and Charles Russell. He later opened a studio in Sheridan, Wyoming, painting images of frontier life and Native American groups. He also became a talented etcher whose work was popular as illustrations and on Christmas cards.