Clarence Ellsworth
Artist
1885-1961
BP: Holdredge, NE
LKL: Hollywood, CA
Born in Holdrege, NE on Sept. 23, 1885. At age four Ellsworth began drawing animals, and remained a self-taught artist. As a youth he was a loner and traveled extensively in the West. The years 1903-19 were spent in Denver where he was a staff artist for the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News. When between jobs, he spent much of his time among the Shoshone, Blackfoot, and Sioux tribes. A lifelong bachelor, he fell in love with an Indian girl who died before they could marry. He was active in southern California after 1924 and by 1929 had settled in Hollywood where he worked for the movie studios as a title artist. Ellsworth remained a resident of Hollywood until his death on Feb. 17, 1961. His work was not appreciated during his lifetime since he never promoted it in any way. Today his Indian portraits are highly prized by collectors of western art.
Represented in Bowers Museum (Santa Ana) and the Southwest Museum (LA).
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