Earl Thollander Biography

During his career, Earl illustrated over 62 children’s, cooking and travel books. He produced at least 60 one-man showings and participated in countless group and invitational shows. This tireless productivity and focus are a tribute to his insatiable curiosity, love of learning, life and the recording of it through his art.

Thollander was an American artist, illustrator, author and a WWII U.S. Navy officer who is best known for his marine scene paintings, sketching, travel book writing and tour leading.

He became famous for his drawings such as of Mount Saint Helena and scenes from Napa Valley.

Born in Kingsburg, California in 1923, Earl was the son of a schoolteacher and a building contractor. He aspired at an early age to artistic enterprises, among them collecting stamps and making the books to place them in. It could be that the stamps of the exotic countries inspired him to travel the world, which he did whenever possible.

Since travel was a huge interest of Earl’s, he creatively combined his art, travel, and continued financial stability, by developing his talent as an “on the spot” artist. This led to clients sending him to the actual scene needed for an advertisement. He could be found sketching 700 feet below ground in a Texas salt mine, or sitting on a dock in the Orient drawing the ships in port for a calendar.