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WILLARD FREDERICK ELMS COLOR LITHOGRAPHIC POSTER

A SANTA FE CHIEF RAILROAD TEN LITTLE NAVAJOS POSTER

Willard Elms, Illustration for ATSF Navajo Land Poster

Original Santa Fe Railway 1950's Poster for Navajo Land by Willard Elms

Willard Frederick Elms

(1900-1956)

Aliases: Willard Frederick Elmes, Willard Frederic Elmes

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Biography

Willard Frederick Elms (1900 - 1956) was active/lived in Arizona. Willard Elms is known for Landscape-Indian figures.

A former art teacher at the Art Institute of Chicago who received his art education there, Willard Elms owned his own studio in Chicago with his main client being the Sears Roebuck catalog. He also was an announcer for WGN radio. He came to Arizona with a well established reputation as a poster and fashion artist.

He settled in Tucson in 1949 and painted numerous landscapes, scenes of San Xavier del Bac Mission at sunset, and Indian genre. He did commission work for the Santa Fe railroad such as a little Indian boy looking for the Santa Fe Chief and others. "I believe that in the Santa Fe railroad museum, some of his original art is on display."

Around 1950, he took his family to Sedona because he was taken with the beauty of the area and the culture of the Navajo people.

In 1952, an exhibition of his work was held at the Camelback Galleries in Scottsdale. He received his art training from the Chicago Art Institute.

He died in Sedona, Arizona May 2, 1956, while building a house.