August Holland was born June 23, 1928 in Sublette, Illinois. Two days later his parents, August and Nellie took him home to Mendota which was his home until his death. Holland began painting at age of 6. An uncle, who also painted, provided August with his first set of painting tools. These tools included tubes of oil pants, paint brushes, linseed oil, and turpentine. At the age of 15, August’s first published work was in Popular Science magazine. After high school he went to the American Academy of Art in Chicago. Since August’s father died when August was eighteen months old his family could not afford for him to stay in Chicago. August took the train back and forth to Chicago everyday. Upon finishing Art School, August gained employment at an advertising agency in Mendota. When August first became an artist in 1951-1961 he was in the Ivan Soritch Gallery located in the Edgewater Beach Gallery in Chicago. August wanted to have his works done into prints, so he went out to seek publishers. A firm in Chicago, Goes Lithographing, was his first publisher. Later he added Donald Art and Bernard Publishing in New York. Many of August’s originals went to the Merrill Chase and Marshall Field Galleries in Chicago. The most popular of his prints was titled "The Pearl of Wisdom" printed by Goes Lithographing. This is the most collected example of his "Tiki Art," which appeared in many furniture stores across the country. Additionally, he would go on to do other tiki prints, including "Drums of the Night" and "The Fire God" (sometimes referred to as "A Power Within").