Born in Harmony, Indiana in 1911, Daniel Rohrig, the 9th of 10 children, left home in 1930 to work in the zinc mines of Oklahoma. Similar industrial or agricultural work followed until he was drafted into the army in 1941 to eventually serve as a purser on the Queen Mary in S.W.Pacific with visits to ports in The Philippines, Guam and Japan. He never trained as an artist.

His longtime fascination and keen interest in Asian screen and stage stars came to the fore during this time allowing him to produce over 70 realistic and fantasy watercolors of movie posters in that genre. Historical military characters, real and imagined, are also featured.

Self-taught with an amazing eye for detail, Dan Rohrig was a meticulous, illustrative artist. His body of work was inherited in total by his niece after his sudden death in 1969. She is the source of this biographical information. Never marrying, and with no immediate relatives, the paintings were kept private until their purchase by a family friend in 1995.

Virtually unseen and undiscovered since they were squirreled away 50 years ago, these remarkable works are now brought to light. Despite only recently entering the public eye, Rohrig’s work has already caught the attention of collectors and museums and will be included in an exhibit of highlights of the permanent collection of American Folk Art Museum in 2022.