Pearson / Sheets / Nelson

Herman Miller Rosewood Cabinet Series catalog

Invoice for cabinets sold to California painter Millard Sheets and delivered to Bill Pearson

Canceled check to Herman Miller from Bill Pearson

Herman Miller business card for the Beverly Blvd showroom

Bill Pearson was a jockey, art enthusiast and kind of a bad ass.  He was also a winner on 

"The $64,000 Question" in April of 1956.  Millard sheets, a good friend of his, was the 

expert he brought in with him in the isolation booth.  Bill was a won on the show by correctly 

identifying six paintings, the artists who painted them and a teacher each of the artists studied with.

Photo of Millard Sheets, Bill Pearson and show host Hal March: Getty Images 

Right after cashing his winning check for $64K, Pearson went into Knoedler gallery in 

New York and bought a Edward Hicks’s painting, Peaceable Kingdom, for $5,000. 

Later in 1956 Millard Sheets goes to Herman Miller to place an order  for some  George Nelson 
rosewood case pieces for Bill Pearson.  There is a cancelled check from Bill and they 

are shipped to his La Jolla address.  

Bill Pearson, his wife Queta and some of their pre-Columbian art.

For a short time they had an art gallery in La Jolla. 

Photo: Vanity Fair

Bill Pearson in 1959

"...Pearson determined that dealing art in San Diego would not be profitable. 

In 1960, he made the tough decision to leave Queta and their two 

young daughters and move alone to San Francisco,  where he opened a gallery of primitive 

art below his apartment on Union Street in Pacific Heights."

A great article about Bill: Vanity Fair