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Untitled
Landscape -- John Fery
Long-term loan from the Glacier National
History Association |
John Fery (1859 -
1934)
Johann Nepomuk Levy was born in Strasswalchen, Austria on March
25, 1859 and grew up in Pressburg. His father urged him to study art and
literature, and in 1881, he enrolled at
the Vienna Academy of Art. Upon moving
to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1883, Johann
legally changed his name to John Fery in
order to better adapt to his new
country. He returned to Europe where he
married Mary Rose Kraemer. After their
first child was born in 1885, he went
back to Milwaukee with his family. The
following years found Fery leaving his
wife and children for extended periods
to paint in the West. Recognition came
slowly, but his work finally caught the
attention of Louis Hill of the Great
Northern Railway. |
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Hill
immediately hired him for the "See America First" campaign.
From 1910 through 1913, Fery was on the payroll of the Great Northern.
He completed an amazing 347 major oil paintings. They decorated Glacier
National Park lodges, ticket agent offices, and Great Northern depots
from St. Paul to Seattle. Always
prolific, he averaged nearly 14 outdoor scenes each month. In 1914 he
was "loaned" to the Northern Pacific Railway to paint scenes
of Yellowstone National Park. He returned to Glacier to
complete paintings for the opening of Many Glacier Hotel. He
spent the next few years free-lancing throughout the West, before moving
back to Milwaukee in 1923. In 1925, Louis Hill again called on Fery. The contract required Fery to produce four to six large canvases
monthly. He spent the next four summers painting in
Glacier. In 1929, the Ferys moved to Orcas Island, Washington to be
closer to their children. A new studio was built, but a fire
destroyed all the paintings he had finished for the Great Northern.
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