Frederick E. Darge was a painter, illustrator and sculptor. He was
born in Germany and immigrated to the United Sates in 1924. He
studied at the Art Institute of Chicago completing his studies in
1929. In 1928 and 1929 his works were awarded purchase prizes when
exhibited with the Union League Club in Chicago. Initially he
aspired to become a portrait painter but found out he was neither a
socializer nor salesman. The depression caused him to give up
commercial art. He traveled to California, then worked his way
through Arizona, New Mexico, and finally to Texas in 1933. While
traveling he worked as a cowhand, lived with sheep and goat shearers
and learned to love the grandeur of the West. His works were
exhibited at the Witte Memorial Museum in San Antonio in 1934, the
Texas Centennial Exhibition of 1936 and the Pan American Exposition
the following year. He was to continue exhibit in numerous
prestigious venues over the three decades. In 1935 he moved to
Dallas and purchased an old army ambulance and would made yearly
trips back to the West to paint then he would return to winter in
Dallas. During WW II he served in the South Pacific and created
numerous paintings of the wildlife and activities he was a part of
i.e., "Unloading Supplies on Guadalcanal". He also illustrated the
history, Zeb Pike
in 1963. His solo exhibitions include those at: Laguna Gloria 1948,
Dallas MFA, 1941, 1944, 1947, 1949, Texas Tech Art Museum 1966. Fred
Darge’s works have been featured in numerous retrospective
exhibitions as a new generation discovers this great interpreter of
the West.