D.C. Niehaus is a native Californian born in San Jose. Drawing from an early age his parents enrolled him in art classes. He always had a painting class to attend to until he entered high school. He then began studying watercolor with Donald Voorhees, the country’s foremost painter of golf courses. During this time Mr. Voorhees was doing seminars with Andrew Wyeth in Chads Ford, PA. He made it possible for D.C. tho attend these sessions. He went on to study at the Maryland Institute of Art and California College of Arts and Crafts.
A professor at Mills College introduced him to Thomas C. Leighton and Margery Lester-Leighton who ran a teaching studio in San Francisco. D.C. was accepted in all classes and studied portraiture and figurative drawing until the untimely death of his mentor. Moving to Southern California he began exhibiting and selling art on a full-time basis. His landscapes and decorative paintings have a depth of understanding, both of his media and subject matter.
Mr. Niehaus’ paintings are in both public and private collection, including president Bill Clinton, California Governor Gray Davis, as well as hospitals, wineries, banks, hotels and corporate headquarters in the US, Great Britain, and Asia
D.C. shares a large studio with his wife Monica Ratliff, also an accomplished artist.
“Like Picasso, my goal is a continual evolution in creating.” – D.C.
