Meadowlark Gallery: The Artist Biographies

Clarence Arthur Ellsworth (1885-1961)
Clarence Arthur Ellsworth was born in Holdrege, Nebraska in 1885 and died in Los Angeles, California in 1961. Clarence Ellsworth was a premature frontier baby, born in the back room of his father's drug store, rubbed with whiskey and warmed in the oven. He grew up witnessing the end of the "horse drawn Westward migration." Self taught as a painter, he was a newspaper artist for ten years in Denver. He made twenty five cent portraits for tourists at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. While in Denver, he received commissions from Eastern magazines for covers and illustrations on Western subjects. He also worked on sport illustrations. About 1924, he moved to Hollywood, California where he worked as a title artist for motion pictures for seven years. He illustrated Western books including two on North American Indians by the curator of the Southwest Museum. By 1941, he was being given one man exhibitions at the Southwest Museum. His specialities were Indians and horses.
View high resolution images of works by Clarence Arthur Ellsworth when available.