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Olaf C. Seltzer

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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

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.

Early life

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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

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Seltzer worked as a machinist for the Great Northern Railway.[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

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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

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  • 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

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Olaf C. Seltzer, Artist, Is Dead". The Montana Standard. Butte, Montana. December 17, 1957. p. 3. Retrieved December 13, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "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. ^ a b c "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. ^ a b c d Mansch, Scott (March 11, 2018). "Steve Seltzer a living link to famed Great Falls artists". Great Falls Tribune. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  5. ^ a b c "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. ^ a b 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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