Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1915-07-20
FORMER HAMILTON
COUNTY BOY HERE
Alfred Montgomery, World Famed
Farmer Painter, Visits Web.
ster City.

ilton county likes to call hers, pass
ed through this city Friday en-
route from Waterloo to Omaha and
stopped off for an hour for visit
with a few old friends and as al.
ways, made a few new ones at the
same time.
Minus his armful of paintings
bound with careless abandon by a
couple Of straps, he might have
been taken anywhere for busy,
sunburned, prosperous farmer in
town for a few minutes to have a
piece of farm machinery fixed. That
is, however, just as he would care to
be taken if he thought anything at
all about it.
On May 10, 1868, little barefoot
boy trudged the weary miles from
his farm home near Homer, dragging
little wagonful of pieplant which
he sold at one of the local grocery
stores for a few cents which he i'm
mediately invested in slate and
pencil. Hugging his treasure to his
heart he trudged back home again to
sit down in the barn and try to draw
an old ram, one of the inmates of the
barn. He is still drawing rams, but
rams so realistic that you expect to
hear them bleat.
Montgomery is known the world
over as the worlds greatest corn
painter. One of his interesting me-
mentoes in book of newspaper
clippings and whatnot that he has
with him, is a kodak picture of a
horse which has been drawn to one
of the artists corn pictures propped
up against farming implement, and
is trying to nibble the grains of
corn! Nothing like these corn pict-
ures have ever been painted, while
those of farm creatures, domestic
animals around the barnyard, might
we'll be Bonheur's masterpieces. The
chickens scratching around the hay
stack; the COWS crossing the brook
to reach the grassy slope beyond;
the sheep huddled together watching
the painter with curious eyes; the
rudy apples lying beside a glass of
cider on the kitchen table; these,
with many other of the commonest
scenes of life, Montgomery transfers
to canvas. With him yesterday
he had a precious armful of pictures,
all sold, but which might be looked
at" for nothing.
In 1S69-Mr. Montgomery likes
reminiscency-he took his first ride
on a railway train, the first train
which ever left Webster City over
the Illinois Central from this city
east bound. The road had just been
completed and the Montgomery fam
lily started back east to Illinois on
visit. They rode in state in box
car from this city to Iowa Falls, sit
ting upon carpenters benches, but
upon their arrival at Iowa Falls
were transferred to a very ordinary
passenger coach-ordinary in these
times of palaces on wheels, but no
doubt luxurious travel beyond the
widest dreams of that eleven year
old boy.
The art critics of several of the
large newspapers of the middle west
were inclined to ostracize Alfred
Montgomery from the inner circle
of the "divinely ordained" artists of
the world a few years ago, but since
Commissioned General Ferdinand w.
Peck decreed a few years ago that
Down on the Farm should be
hung at the Paris Exposition, the at
titude gradually changed and now
complimentary things and much
bowling and scraping of so-called
critics is the result. One of the fin
est things which has been said by
late newspapers was spoken by the
Kansas City Star, recently, when
their critic called his paintings OF
the American farm the folk songs"
not the rag-time"-of American
art expression 1t is true, as those
familiar with his work will attest.
Mr.. Montgomery, on his present
trip, came from his 400 acre potato
farm near Amedee, California, which
unfamiliar name is that of little
town eighty miles north of Reno,
Nevada, and five hundred and some
miles east of San Francisco. c'Thank
Cod" says Montgomery. He came
to Waterloo primarily to buy a
tractor for his farm. incidentally
he sold $500 worth of pictures
while there. He bought of the VIM.
Galloway company of that place
II horse power tractor with which
he is planning to put in 100 acres
of wheat next year. Wheat in that