Walter Biggs

Walter Biggs was born in Elliston, Virginia in 1886. He studied at The Chase School in New York with Edward Penfield (father of the American poster) and Robert Henri (founder of the Ashcan school). Biggs enjoyed a long and successful career, illustrating advertisements and stories for almost every major magazine (Harper’s, Scribner’s, Century, Good Housekeeping, Ladies' Home Journal, and Cosmopolitan). Norman Rockwell called Biggs's art “brilliant and poetic.” Biggs primarily worked in watercolor and gouache, but was equally skilled with oils. He taught at both the Art Students League and the Grand Central School of Art before retiring back to his native Virginia. Biggs was also an artist-in-residence at Roanoke College, which owns the largest collection of his art. He died in Salem in 1968.