Warren Eliphalet Rollins

Warren Eliphalet Rollins was born in 1861 in Carson City, Nevada, but grew up in Oakland, California. After he completed his primary education, Warren attended the San Francisco School of Design and studied under Virgil Williams.

Upon completing his education, Warren worked briefly as the associate director at the School of Design. After leaving that position Warren moved to Portland, Oregon where he would spend the next fifteen years. While in Oregon, Warren worked at an art school and illustrated pieces for magazines headquartered in the Western United States. Throughout his life, Warren would travel all over the west to paint in various locations. He painted in Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico, and even the Dakotas. He had an interest in Native American customs and cultures and spent much of his time with them. Warren continued to paint, even while afflicted with a palsy, until his death in 1962. He was 100 years old.

Warren Rollins is noted for both his beautiful landscapes of the west and also for his use of wax crayons. Because of his palsy, he had difficulty with painting, so he began experimenting with crayons in his work – layering the colors with different intensities in order to produce the desired final color. He painted many works in crayon including several that were of marine subjects – with which he’d had a fascination of ever since living and studying in California.