Don Nice was born in Visalia, California, in 1932. He studied at the University of Southern California before completing his training at the Yale School of Art, where he was part of a generation of American artists grappling with the legacy of Abstract Expressionism and the rising tide of Pop. Nice found his own distinctive path — one rooted in close, affectionate observation of the everyday objects and natural specimens of American life.
Nice is associated with the Superrealist tendency in American painting, though his work carries a warmth and personal quality that sets it apart from the cooler detachment of many of his contemporaries. His paintings and prints celebrate the vernacular — sneakers, candy, matchbooks, sporting goods, animals, and foodstuffs rendered with loving precision against clean white grounds. There is nothing ironic in his gaze. These are objects chosen because he finds them genuinely worthy of attention, and his handling of them communicates that feeling directly to the viewer.
His prints Book of Matches, Tootsie Pops, and Asparagus were produced at Hollanders Workshop, New York, in collaboration with Fred Genis and Irwin Hollander. Each takes a single humble subject and elevates it through careful composition and immaculate technique — the lithographic medium lending itself beautifully to the crisp edges and saturated colour that define his style. The Big Sneeker series — produced in full colour, black and white, and white on black — demonstrates Nice’s interest in exploring a single subject through multiple variations, each print a different way of seeing the same familiar form. The sneaker, an icon of American popular culture, becomes in his hands something almost monumental.
Nice taught for many years at the School of Visual Arts in New York, where he influenced generations of younger artists. His work is held in numerous American public collections and remains a warm, generous contribution to the story of American realism.
