Doug Allan Nason was born in
Los Angeles to Shirley Mitchell Nason and Malcolm Craig Nason III. By
his own account, he had an idyllic childhood growing up in the shadow of
20th Century Fox Studios, literally riding his prized Schwinn bike on
the street where The Wonder Years was filmed. He lived his life with
youthful exuberance, precision, kindness, authenticity and integrity.
He
and his sister Diane, attended Paul Revere Junior High School and
Palisades High School. Doug graduated from Humboldt State University at
the gateway to his beloved Pacific Northwest. It was there that he
spread his wings and began playing percussion with Espree, the first of
many bands.
His lifelong passion for exploration and anthropology
took him to one hundred countries, all seven continents and many lands
unknown. However; it was his insatiable curiosity that drove him to live
in many worlds, including commercial real estate, all things
mid-century, Low Brow Art, tribal peoples, jazz, ethnomusicology, tiki
culture, exotic plants, reptiles & tropical fish. He was a hi
fidelity audiophile, photographer, author and so much more.
Doug
was a respected Real Estate Appraiser and led a valuation team as Senior
Vice President at Wells Fargo Bank for over 30 years. His grandfather
and father, Malcolm Craig Nason II and III were also reknowned real
estate appraisers. He had many mentors and mentees across the industry
with whom he took great joy in debating valuation and going concerns.
Doug served several terms as President and Vice-President of the
American Society of Appraisers and was passionate about both real
property and personal property appraisal.
In 1992, he and Greg
Escalante founded the Copro Nason Gallery in Culver City, California
(now Copro Gallery at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica) that played a
seminal role in the Low Brow Movement that democratized and blurred the
lines between subculture and fine art. Doug was the author/co-author of
six books, including Rat Fink: The Art of Ed ‘Big Daddy ’Roth, Shag LTD,
Fine Art Limited Editions, Night of the Tiki, The Art of Von Dutch,
Copro Nason Fine Art: Catalogue Raissonne, and King of Kustomizers: The
Art of George Barris and was working on a seventh documenting his
exploration of oceanic cultures.
Doug was an avid collector of
oceanic arts and a longtime member of the Ethnic Arts Council of Los
Angeles. In 2009; he together with Jeff Fox, curated the In Search of
Tiki exhibition at the Forest Lawn Glendale Museum featuring traditional
oceanic art juxtaposed against Polynesian pop and a modern group art
exhibition including artist Josh Agle (SHAG).
A confirmed
bachelor, Doug met the love of his life at age 51, but only with the
firm and loving insistence of his dear friend Jolene Myers. And as only
he would have imagined; Doug kneeled down to propose marriage to
Christine, during the Ethiopian celebration of Timkat in the shadow of
the medieval stone temples of Lalibela. Together they traversed the
globe and enjoyed quieter pursuits like the restoration of their 1958
built home, gardening, mixology and entertaining friends and family.
Doug
was 66 years old and passed away peacefully at home in Pasadena, after a
valiant 3 year battle with stage 4 cholangiocarcinoma. He is survived
by his wife, Christine Cadena, hypoallergenic cat, Natasha, step
children Megan Cadena (Marlon Cervantes), Matthew Cadena, Max (Natalie)
Cadena, beloved mother Shirley Mitchell Nason, sister Diane (Brian)
Weissberg, nephew Jon (Bradley) Weissberg, niece Allyson (Jason) Heim,
beloved Uncle Jim & Aunt Tina Mitchell, cousins, great nieces,
nephews and many dear lifelong friends.
In lieu of flowers, please consider supporting the work of one of Doug’s lifelong personal causes:
Union Rescue Mission https://www.urm.org
World Wildlife Fund https://protect.worldwildlife.org
Ethnic Arts Council, Los Angeles https://ethnnicartscouncil.org
KJAZZ https://www.kkjz.org
The Archeological Conservancy https://www.thearchcons.org
Los Angeles Conservancy https://www.laconservancy.org