DONALD ROLLER WILSON
American (b. 1938)
Donald Roller Wilson is an artist who describes his work as a “by-product of his thoughts.” According to him, he spends his “days and nights pondering the meaning of life, the state of the Universe, and the Home Shopping Network. . . . More than anything, my work deals with pointlessness. It takes all the arrogance out of everything you do when you know God is so much bigger than you are. And yet everything you are, do and see is filled with God: the grass, the asphalt, and the people fighting over Aquanet at Walmart. . . .You can make a profound intellectual statement just by basing your efforts on silliness.”
Roller’s lush, colorfully painted canvases are inhabited by animals dressed in elaborate fashion: monkeys, cats and dogs as well as floating olives, tulips, cigarette butts, sweating pickles and melon wedges that he attributes, not to a surrealist style, but to a “strong night wind that whips through and causes things to happen.”
Donald Roller Wilson’s art can be found in the permanent collections of many prestigious museums including: the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington D.C., the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, and The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. His work has been collected by many notable Hollywood stars and influencers including Steve Martin, Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, Charles Schwab and the late Robin Williams.
Naughty Betty’s Habit Was Quite Holy! To Boot (2019)
oil on canvas, 7.875 x 6.5 inches
Framed in 23 kt gold water-gilded frame designed by the artist, 11 x 9.5 x 2.5 inches
July 2, Santa Fe New Mexico… (2004)
oil on canvas/oil on wood, 35 x 28 inches (56 x 46 inches framed)
Work consists of a painting of oil on canvas, installed in a frame with a permanent liner of oil on wood. Frame has been designed by the artist specifically for the painting, and is constructed of a wooden armature which has been embellished with naturally shed deer antlers.
Cookie …(On a Bad Hair Day) (2003)
oil on canvas, 14 x 11 inches (19 x 16 inches framed)
Frame is museum quality, designed by the artist, hand carved, 24 karat gold leaf.
Patricia Counted The Hot Butts (1986)
oil on canvas, 26 x 18 inches (35 x 26 inches framed)
Fabric frame with bunting designed by the artist
Holly Wished for a Big Pork Loin (1986)
oil on panel, 9 x 7 inches, (14 x 12 inches framed)
Frame is museum quality, designed by the artist, hand carved, 24 karat gold leaf.
Judy’s Friend (1990)
oil on panel, 8 x 6 inches (15.5 x 12.75 inches framed)
Frame is museum quality, designed by the artist, hand carved, 24 kt white gold water gilding.
Naughty Betty Waiting in the Woods for Judy (1977)
19.25 x 23.25 inches (28.25 x 32.5 inches framed)
Frame is museum quality, designed by the artist, hand carved, 24 karat gold leaf.
A Rite of Passage (2005)
oil on canvas, 23.25 x 17.5 inches (32.5 x 26.5 framed)
Frame is museum quality, designed by the artist, hand carved, 24 karat gold leaf.
In A Pinch, Helen’s Friend, Judy, Produced Thoughts of Value (1989)
oil on canvas, 7.75 x 15.25 inches (12 x 20 inches framed)
Frame is museum quality handcarved Basswood with 24 karat gold water gilding designed by the artist
Madonna Had Seen … (2012)
oil on canvas, 17.5 x 9.75 inches (36 x 28 inches framed)
Frame designed and constructed by the artist using brushes from his studio to surround the hand carved story liner and oil on canvas.
Cookie…Dressed and Ready (2014)
oil on canvas oval shaped, 12 x 10 inches
Frame museum quality, designed by the artist, hand carved, 24 karat gold leaf.
It Would Become The Third Disastrous Attempt For Naughty Betty To Ratify Her Bat Mitzvah (2010)
oil on canvas, 43.625 x 36.50 x 3 inches
Frame designed by artist: Museum quality, hand carved from solid Basswood with 24kt gold water gilding.
Cookie as a Baby (1992)
oil on canvas, 13.25 x 10.5 inches (19.5 x 16.5 inches framed)
Frame is museum quality hand-carved Basswood with 24 karat gold water gilding designed by the artist
Patricia’s Ears Yielded To The Powers… (1991)
oil on canvas, 21 x 21 inches (30 x 30 inches framed)
Frame is museum quality hand-carved Basswood with 24 karat gold water gilding designed by the artist
Miss Pussy America Wearing Her Cubic Zerconia Crown (1986)
oil on panel 8.625 x 7 inches (18 x 16 inches framed)
Frame museum quality, designed by the artist, hand carved, 24 karat gold leaf.
Cookie as a Girl in the Forest Outside Brenda’s Nut Farm (1991)
oil on canvas, 19 x 15.5 inches (approximately 26 x 23 framed)
Housed in museum quality frame designed by the artist. Hand carved with 24 kt gold water gilding
Cookie (1996)
oil on canvas, 11 x 9 inches (19.5 x 17.5 inches framed)
Frame museum quality, designed by the artist, hand carved, 24 karat gold leaf.
Helen Knew She Would Not Stay (1996)
oil on panel, 10 x 8 inches (17 x 15 inches framed)
Frame museum quality, designed by the artist, hand carved, 24 karat gold leaf.
Jane Guarding (As Best She Could) (1996)
oil on panel, 6 x 8 inches (14 x 16 inches framed)
Frame museum quality, designed by the artist, hand carved, 24 karat gold leaf.
Naughty Judy (1996)
oil on panel, 11 x 9 inches (20 x 18 inches framed)
Frame museum quality, designed by the artist, hand carved, 24 karat gold leaf.
Helen and Helen (1988)
oil on canvas, 22 x 35 inches SOLD
Cookie and Ann (2012)
oil on canvas, 26.5 x 22.5 inches
Independence Day and Mrs. Rogers, The Mother of Georgie … (1993)
oil on panel, 14 x 11 inches, 23 x 18 inches framed
Jimmy Knew It Was All A Matter of Scale … (1985-86)
oil on canvas, 12 x 24 inches (16.5 x 46 inches on wall)
Big Betty Was Prepared to Warm Tony’s Lunch…But Not Jimmy’s…It Had An Inexhaustible Heat of It’s Own…Matchless (1992)
oil on canvas, 48×41 inches, 57×52 inches framed
Cookie (1998)
oil on panel, 10×8 inches, 27×14 inches
Cookie Looked Up and Saw The Holy Ghost (1994)
oil on panel, graphite on paper, 23×33 inches overall, SOLD
Cookies First Easter (1996)
oil on panel, 39×23 inches, SOLD
Jimmy in Mrs. Jenkins Hallway (1986)
oil on panel, 42×52 inches, 52×62 inches framed, heart-shaped frame designed by the artist with yellow fabric hunting
The Wedding of Jimmy and Naughty Betty (1996)
oil on canvas, 25×21 inches, SOLD
Mrs. Rogers and Jane in the Woods Outside Brenda’s Nut Farm Awaiting Arrival of the Virgin Mary Who Often Disguised as a General Electric Refrigerator or As a Floating Picnic Ham (1995)
oil on canvas, 34×30 inches, 42.6×38.5 inches framed, Sold
