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 First Lady Barbara Bush.
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 living 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.
Click here to see a sample of Jim Nelson’s portraits and paintings.
Museums Displaying Jim Nelson's Artwork
25th Infantry Museum, Schofield Barracks, Honolulu, Hawaii
Air Force Museum, Fort Worth, Texas
Army Medical Corps Museum, San Antonio, Texas
Army Infantry Museum, Fort Benning, Georgia
Art Students League of New York, Portrait of Sidney Dickenson
National Army Archives Museum, Anacostia, Maryland
National Vietnam War Museum, Mineral Wells, Texas
New York State Division of Veterans Affairs, Albany, New York
New York State Museum of Military History, Saratoga Springs, NY
Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York
The Veronica M. Driscoll Center for Nursing, Guilderland, New York
University of British Columbia, President Dr. Strangway, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Veterans Memorial Museum, Branson Missouri
Vietnam War Paintings
When asked why I am interested in painting the Vietnam War, I have three answers: First, because I was there. I witnessed scenes that are unique in the American experience and historically significant, thus deserving representation. Second, because within those American troops I had many good friends some of whom did not survive. Their bravery and sacrifice deserve representation in art and other medium for commemoration sake and for posterity. My third reason is to help repair the distorted image of that war and the American troops. I have consequently been concerned that my paintings be objective, depicting persons and events just as they actually were; neither glamorizing, nor —as television and the movies tend to do —demonizing them. I wanted it to be fairly said: “Yes, that’s the way it really was.”
“One motive for doing this book is to preserve an authentic presentation of Vietnam as it was experienced by the common soldier. History is always susceptible to new interpretations that reflect more a cultural bias of a new generation rather than an accurate account of true history. This book is meant to stand against such anticipated historical distortions.”
Professor J. Jefferson Broome, Ph.D., Arapaho College, Denver, Colorado
To purchase “Vietnam War Paintings – Narratives by Participants”, call 785-658-7430 or
785-428-3390. Price: $20.00 Trade Paperback, $30.00 Hardcover. Add $5.00 S&H for each book. “Vietnam War Paintings – Narratives by Participants”. Art by James Davis Nelson
