1920, Artists Fremont Ellis (left) and Willard Nash (right), Canyoncito, New Mexico, courtesy Palace of Governors Photo Archive
Fremont Ellis (1897-1985) was born in Virginia City, Montana and spent his early life traveling around to mining towns with his father, a jack of all trades, who worked as a dentist, carnival performer, and theater operator. When Ellis was 14, he visited New York City and fell in love with the work of Albert Bierstadt at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He dreamed of becoming a painter, but decided to be an optometrist instead for practicality’s sake.