Gerald Cassidy
American, 1879 - 1934
Gerald Cassidy was raised in Cincinnati and studied there at the Art Institute under Frank Duveneck, who had also taught Joseph Sharp and Walter Ufer. In 1898, after a period in New York, where he found work as a commercial artist, Cassidy contracted tuberculosis and was sent to a sanitarium in Albuquerque. His health improved and, finding that he loved the New Mexico landscape and its people, he began to paint the local Indians, including the Navajo chief Vicente.
Cassidy then moved to Denver, where he worked as a lithographer until 1911 when he first visited Santa Fe. In 1912 Cassidy married the sculptor, Ina Sizer Davis and two years later they moved permanently to Santa Fe, where Cassidy abandoned commercial illustration and concentrated on painting. His reputation as a painter was established in 1915 when he was awarded the grand prize and gold medal at the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Diego for a series of murals for the Indian Arts Building which depicted the life of the Southwestern Indians.
Biography courtesy of Roughton Galleries, www.antiquesandfineart.com/roughton
Cassidy then moved to Denver, where he worked as a lithographer until 1911 when he first visited Santa Fe. In 1912 Cassidy married the sculptor, Ina Sizer Davis and two years later they moved permanently to Santa Fe, where Cassidy abandoned commercial illustration and concentrated on painting. His reputation as a painter was established in 1915 when he was awarded the grand prize and gold medal at the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Diego for a series of murals for the Indian Arts Building which depicted the life of the Southwestern Indians.
Biography courtesy of Roughton Galleries, www.antiquesandfineart.com/roughton
Gerald Cassidy, born in 1879, was a painter and leading lithographer. He studied at the Cincinnati Academy in 1891 and briefly at the National Academy of Design and the At Students League. Cassidy worked in New York City as an art director for a city lithographer when he developed Tuberculosis and was forced to move to a warmer climate. In 1890, he headed west to Albuquerque and was the founder of the Santa Fe Art Colony in 1912. He specialized in Western scenes of Navajos that were often reproduced as postcards. When his health improved, Cassidy moved to Denver and established a national reputation as a lithographer, working on magazine illustrations, murals posters and advertisements. His highest acclaim was gained in 1915 when he was awarded the golf metal at the Panama-California International Exposition for his murals at the San Diego Indian Arts Building. Cassidy died of poisoning while working for the WPA on a mural.
Biography courtesy of The Caldwell Gallery, www.antiquesandfineart.com/caldwell
Biography courtesy of The Caldwell Gallery, www.antiquesandfineart.com/caldwell
