Burr H. Nicholls

Burr Halliday Nicholls was a Lockport, New York native who studied with Lars Gustaf Sellstedt in Buffalo, then went to Paris with Frank C. Penfold and studied at the atelier of Carolus-Duran. Both Nicholls and Penfold were active in an artists’ colony at Pont-Aven in the Brittany region of France. Nicholls was especially well known for his paintings of the Breton landscape and peasants, as well as buildings in Venice, Italy. He met Rhoda Holmes, an English watercolor painter, in Venice; after they were married, they settled in New York. Historical records also trace Nicholls’ later presence to Buffalo, where in 1900 he was associated with Bohemian Sketch Club.

In 1901 he had an exhibition with the Buffalo Society of Artists, of which he was also a member. Two works by Nicholls were listed in the Catalogue of the Exhibition of Fine Arts, published for the Pan-American Exposition held in Buffalo in 1901: A Quiet Corner, Venice and A Street Scene in France. Nicholls also exhibited with the Brooklyn Art Association, the National Academy of Design, Paris Salon, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Boston Art Club. [1] Nicholls was largely an expatriot from Buffalo. Much of his work exists in collections in Europe.