Local Artist Known As 'The Painter Of Presidents' Has Died

By Justin Udo

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Painter Nelson Shanks lost his fight with cancer last Friday at his Bucks County home.

Shanks widow Leona said her husband loved helping and inspiring artists at his Philadelphia school Studio Incamminati.

"He also taught them to be teachers so they in tern could give back and he also taught people to be leaders in what they do," Leona said.

Shanks painted everyone from Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton to world dignitaries like Princess Diana and Pope John Paul the II.

"The time spent with these great people was such a great opportunity," she remembered.

The Shanks lived in Andalusia Bucks County since 1960.

Nelson Shanks was 77.

In:
• Philadelphia