Contemporary and military paintings by classically trained artist and Vietnam War veteran
Jim Nelson
Trained at the Art Students League in NYC. Employed at Raymond Loewy. Infantry Combat Artist during Vietnam War. Published by the Caxton Press
Jim Nelson
James (Jim) Davis Nelson has painted hundreds of classical-style paintings, including portraits, landscape paintings, and paintings of the Vietnam War. The subjects of his portraits include President Donald Trump, Canadian businessman Nelson Skalbania, former Governor George Pataki, and former Senator Robert Dole.
Born in 1943, he decided to become a painter when he was fourteen and first saw the Old Master Paintings in New York City.
He attended The Art Students League where he had a Ford Foundation Grant and was employed by Raymond Loewy to paint murals. He was working in a studio in New York on 5th Avenue when he learned that he was drafted into the Infantry in 1967. He served with the 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry in Vietnam, eventually becoming a Draftsman-Combat Artist with the 25th Division (18th Military Historical Detachment).
Since finishing his tour of duty in Vietnam, he has painted a large number of works, including portraits, historical and biographical paintings, and murals. His paintings can be found in many private collections as well as museums in the U.S. and Canada.
He is a defender of the American Tradition of Realism in painting.
Media Coverage
Boulder Daily Camera
In May 2022, Jim Nelson returned to do his periodic refreshing of the largest outdoor mural in downtown Boulder, Colorado. The mural commemorates Frank Shorter winning the Gold Medal In the 1972 Olympic Marathon.
https://www.dailycamera.com/2022/05/23/columbine-mile-to-kick-off-bolder-boulder-week/
Salina Journal
An online gallery exhibit of paintings by Jim Nelson in a show entitled “Western Impressions,” beginning October 21, 2020.
https://www.salina.com/news/20201013/holm-auto-good-news-art-gallery-taking-exhibits-online
My Ozarks Documentary Film Series
Featured in this documentary about those who served in the Vietnam War and how they are not forgotten.
https://www.ozarkvitality.com/my-ozarks-episode-3
Weatherford Democrat – July 22, 2011
Jim Nelson at the National Vietnam War Museum art exhibition. 12 of his paintings were presented at the exhibition.
Beloit Call – February 4, 2019
“Nationwide known artist, Jim Nelson of Jewell County, continues to memorialize Veterans through his paintings, and recently attended a promotion for the Ozark’s event at the Visitors Memorial Center Vietnam Wall in Perryville, Mo.”
https://www.beloitcall.com/news/nelson-presents-promotional-film
Review of Jim Nelson’s book from Amazon:
Vietnam War Paintings (St. John’s Press, January 1, 2003)
“An amazing artistic chronicle of Vietnam war works done by Jim Davis Nelson, a New York Art School grad, drafted and sent to Vietnam as a ‘Grunt’, in ‘War zone 3’, 67-68. I’ve met Jim on numerous occasions, though I was not in his unit directly, Jim always the soft spoken, gentle, and passionate warrior, fighting against the tide of revisionist ‘war’ history that most of his Countrymen would rather forget than face.
All his paintings are based on his/our documented wartime experiences both ‘In Country’ and out. A rare historical portfolio of the artistic legacy of a man who risked it all for his fellow man and fought for his truth with a paintbrush and a M-16.”
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0971055122/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i0#customerReviews
Interview with Jim Nelson (NY State Military Museum)
12th Evac Cu Chi, RVN
Portraits of doctors, nurses and technicians in an operating room at the 25th Division Base Camp, Cu Chi. This painting is owned by the Army Medical Corps Museum, Fort Sam, Houston, Texas.
“Viewing your painting titled “12th Evac Cu Chi, RVN” on the cover of the AANA Journal of October 2005 brought back a flood of memories for me. I served as a young Lieutenant with the 12th Evac, as an operating room nurse from October ’69 until October ’70. Your fine painting made it seem as though I had been there just yesterday, so vivid are some of the memories from there. Thank you for your efforts to preserve the legacy of a great unit and the many fine people who served there during the Vietnam War.”
John Erickson, Jr. CRNA
