Olaf C. Seltzer

Olaf C. Seltzer (August 27, 1877 - December 16, 1957) was a Danish-born American painter and illustrator from Great Falls, Montana. He did over 2,500 paintings and illustrations of the American West, including cowboys.

Olaf Carl Seltzer
BornAugust 27, 1877
Copenhagen, Denmark
DiedDecember 16, 1957
Great Falls, Montana, U.S.
Occupation(s)Painter, illustrator
SpouseMabel L. Cleeland
Children2 sons

Early life

Seltzer was born on August 27, 1877, in Copenhagen, Denmark.[1][2][3] He emigrated to the United States with his mother after his father died, and settled in Great Falls, where his uncle lived.[2] He did not speak English when he arrived.[4]

Career

Seltzer worked as a machinist for the Great Northern Railway (U.S.).[4][5] In 1897, he began painting alongside Charles M. Russell.[2] Seltzer decided to paint independently from 1921 onward.[2] He worked as an illustrator for The New York Tribune in 1934,[1] and he exhibited his work in Seattle in 1936.[2] He did 275 paintings for physician Philip G. Cole.[3] He did over 2,500 paintings and illustrations over the course of his career.[5]

Seltzer did both watercolor and oil paintings,[6] and he depicted life in the American West, including animals, cowboys and historical events.[4][7][8] He also painted pioneers like Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.[7] Seltzer did a painting for the Grand Masonic Library in Helena.[1] President Harry Truman received one of his paintings as a gift on his 1950 visit to Montana.[1] His work was exhibited at the Gilcrease Museum in Oklahoma in 1957.[2]

Personal life, death and legacy

Seltzer married Mabel L. Cleeland in 1903.[3] They had two sons, Carl and Walter, and they resided in Great Falls.[1]

Seltzer died on December 16, 1957, in Great Falls, Montana.[1][2] Some of his work is in the permanent collection of the C. M. Russell Museum Complex in Great Falls,[9] the Art Institute of Chicago,[10] the Gilcrease Museum in Oklahoma,[11] and the Tacoma Art Museum in Tacoma, Washington.[5] His papers are at the Smithsonian Institution's Archives of American Art.[12]

His grandson, Steve Seltzer, is a painter.[4]

Works
  • Kennedy, Michael S. (1960). The Life and Times of Olaf C. Seltzer, 1877 to 1957: Meticulous Montana Frontier Artist. Helena, Montana: Historical Society of Montana. OCLC 22900958.

References
  1. "Olaf C. Seltzer, Artist, Is Dead". The Montana Standard. Butte, Montana. December 17, 1957. p. 3. Retrieved December 13, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "Western Artist Olaf C. Seltzer Dies; Funeral Services Thursday Afternoon". Great Falls Tribune. December 17, 1957. pp. 1, 10. Retrieved December 13, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Prolific Dutch artist brushes up on the West and paints lasting legacy". Great Falls Tribune. September 5, 2010. p. 37. Retrieved December 13, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. Mansch, Scott (March 11, 2018). "Steve Seltzer a living link to famed Great Falls artists". Great Falls Tribune. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  5. "Olaf C. Seltzer". Tacoma Art Museum. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  6. "Masterpieces by Russell Ready for Mar. 21". Great Falls Tribune. March 11, 1929. p. 12. Retrieved December 13, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. Swagerty, William R. (2012). The Indianization of Lewis and Clark. Norman, Oklahoma: Arthur H. Clark Co. p. 180. ISBN 9780870624131. OCLC 791489860.
  8. Saar, Meghan (January 1, 2004). "Striking Similarities The cowboy art of C.M. Russell and Olaf C. Seltzer". True West Magazine. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  9. "Museum History". C. M. Russell Museum Complex. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  10. "Olaf Carl Seltzer". Art Institute of Chicago. 1877. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  11. "Olaf Carl Seltzer". Gilcrease Museum. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  12. "Olaf Carl Seltzer papers, 1926-1935". Archives of American Art. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
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