| Crews, Seth Floyd |
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(1885 – 1958)
Place of Birth: Mt. Vernon, Illinois History: Seth was born in Mt. Vernon, Illinois in 1885. He studied at the Chicago Art Institute and became an illustrator for magazines and a theatrical artist. He exhibited in New York and Los Angeles and in 1940 had a painting on the cover of the New Mexico Magazine. While in Cleveland, Milwaukee and Chicago he was a magazine illustrator and poster designer for lithograph companies, and he also wrote a book, How to Build a Set of Scenery for the American Stage. For a time he had a commercial art studio in Chicago and employed 14 artists, but he sold out to a partner in 1916. In the 1920’s he showed paintings in three Edgar B. Davis “Texas Wildflowers” exhibits; in 1935 he painted a 10 foot long mural of a Pueblo Indian ceremony on the wall of the Hotel St. Regis, and in 1938 he executed a mural painting, “Cowboys to the Rescue,” over the entrance of the downtown YMCA. He also created a stained glass window for Trinity Methodist Church in El Paso and a mural for the Del Camino Hotel dining room. He and his sister owned a ranch but had a hard time making ends meet. He paid doctor bills with paintings, bartering his brilliantly colored desert scenes, pen and ink drawings, and portraits of prominent El Pasoans when short of cash. He was a member of the Far Southwest Artists Association and the El Paso Art Guild in the 1930’s, as well as an honorary member of the El Paso Art Association. |