Painter, photographer. For almost six decades, Gill worked for the Smithsonian’s Bureau of American Ethnology, first as an illustrator and then as director of the Division of Illustration. During those years he did field work with W. H. Holmes, from whom he learned his watercolor technique and practiced photography, both as an illustrative aid and as an independent creative medium. His professional interests no doubt contributed significantly to the clarity and precision of his painting style.

Gill was born in Camden, South Carolina, and trained as a draftsman with the Supervising Architect of the U.S. Capitol. In later years, he taught at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Art Students League in New York.