Elling William Gollings was an American painter born in Pierce City, Idaho Territory, in 1878 He was a cowboy artist who had come to know the West.

He was sent by his family to Chicago in 1896 for schooling, but determined he would work his way back West. He traveled to Rapid City, SD, where he worked as a cowhand for an outfit heading for the Slim Butte country. After a winter herding cattle, Golling went to his brother's ranch in Montana on Rosebud Creek near the Yellowstone River. According to his biography he realized the cowboy days were about over and he longed to be a part of at least the last of it.

He worked occasionally as a hand over the next five years, gaining much experience and began to sketch what he saw, particularly after he became aware of Frederic Remington's work. His early work included carving horse heads out of bars of soap. His first paint set was ordered from Montgomery Wards. He practiced industriously and his work earned him a scholarship to Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, where he learned to work in oil and water colors. He also developed a fine technique of etching that he learned from Hans Kieber of Dayton, WY. Gollings reached a wide audience with his etchings, some of which appeared on Christmas cards. His fellow cowboys nicknamed him 'Paint Bill'.

Gollings loved being a cowhand, but when he found there was a market for his artwork, he retired and in 1909 built a small studio in Sheridan, WY, where he spent half of his life. He painted scenes of the range he had worked on earlier in this life, signing with his distinct and simple 'Gollings' followed by a pony track insignia. He met several other artists, most notably Edward Borein, W.H.D. Koerner, Joseph Sharp and Charles M. Russell. He and Russell had a lifelong association. Golling's own art was most influenced by Sharp.

In his later years, he would go out in the hills and was convinced that there was 'no more West'. However, the past he mourned was preserved in his paintings. His works are displayed in such places as: the Gilcrease Museum in Oklahoma, the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming, and the National Museum of Wildlife Art.

Gollings died April 16, 1932 in Sheridan, WY.

Reference: http://www.altermann.com/gallery/pages/a1028y.htm

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