Everything but Gray: The life of Audley Dean Nicols

by Gayle Boss, Thomas Duke

In 1912, Audley Dean Nicols was a successful magazine illustrator, a popular citizen of a Pittsburgh suburb. Then, he heard "a call in the desert." Following that call changed the course of his life and the art of the Desert Southwest.

The brilliant light of the desert and its austere beauty were "a revelation to Pittsburgh eyes," Nicols wrote. In meticulous, vivid canvases he became devoted to conveying that revelation. His paintings pioneered a distinctive style of photographic realism in desert landscape painting and sparked a new interest in Southwestern art.

Though widely appreciated in his lifetime, Nicols' paintings faded from public view after his death. This book presents the largest assemblage of Nicols' work so far gathered in one place, along with a documented biography. In it, a remarkable artist is brought back into the light.

86 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2021

About the author

Gayle Boss writes from West Michigan, where she was born and raised. Her lifelong love of animals and her immersion in spiritual texts and practices have melded in writing that explores how relationships with animals specifically, and an attentive presence in the natural world generally, restore us to our deepest selves. Also the mother of two grown sons, Gayle shares her home with her husband and Welsh corgi rescue.