Artist Biography

George BICKERSTAFF
1893 - 1954

George Sanders Bickerstaff was born on June 7, 1893 in Marianna, Arkansas. He was a self-taught artist except for a brief period at the Art Institute of Chicago. He worked in Texas before moving to California in 1922. His early years were spent in San Diego, Van Nuys, and Los Angeles; whereas, he later moved north to Ukiah where he remained until his death on July 12, 1954. A prolific oil painter of mountain and desert scenes, his landscapes often include eucalypti as well as rolling hills of poppies, lupines, and other California wildflowers. Occasionally, he painted seascapes, still lifes, and western and Indian scenes. Typically his signature was simply, "Bickerstaff." He was adept at promoting his own work and sold many of them to decorate hotel lobbies, hospitals, rest homes, and mortuaries. He exhibited several times in Van Nuys and with Paul Lauritz. One of his large oils entitled Buffalo Gap once hung in the Abilene (Texas) City Hall and is now in the museum in Buffalo Gap, Texas

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