The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-06-24
ELLIS: A "RED"
US, ARTIST AT
WORK IN USSR
BY WALT CARMoN

NNN-A3o
work as q sign painter he fell from
the sixth story of albaildfng on to a
cement sidewalk, breaking, every bone
in his body, He tells this with a
twinkle in his eye, but also with q
great deal of warmth for the COM
radely appreciation he received then
He will also tell you of another fall
he had from the fifth floor With an
engaging smile he recalls: For some
fool reasons walked off the scaflold-
ing backwards I landed on the can
vas top of a.passing milk wagon and
bounced off TO the ground unhurt.'
That was all in the days work.
AT that time, he was known as an
artist mostly amongDthe workers of
Chicago. where he was born and
raised; and where he drew cartoons
for the trade union Socialist and
I. w. w. papers. He hardly dreamed
that he was known beyond the limits
Of his city. ,on
Freed Stayed Long While"
This is what he thought as he lay
IN the hospital in a}plaster cast,
every bone broken. Many workers
came to the hospital to see him
sign painters, stockyard4 workers and
others, his comrades. Then Art
Young, one of the leading revolu-
tionary artists of his day, passing
from New York to Chicago came to
500 him. He had always admired
Euls' work, watched it closely. Robert
Minor, perhaps the greatest living
political cartoonist, also came to
offer him encouragement to get we'll,
to ocontinue his valuable services to
tie working class. EHts often tells
how much these visits by. two great
artists meant to him. "e,''
And he is particularly proud of the
fact that John Reed came to see him
at this time. Reed stayed for a
long while" Ellis recalls. "FIe talked
OF his writing chow he was coming to
The conclusion that writer's would
have to learn from the cartoonist
how to tell their story briefly, direct
ly. to reach a great number of work
ers. He planned then, orEllis contin-
ued, ito experiment wilma series of
brief paragraphs instead Of short
storiee. A kind Of literary cartoon
idea,' he called it," ~ ,s1oi1
Today, after many years of service
as an artist in the. revolutionary
movement, through his work in the
L-eerator, Workers Monthly, Labor
Defender. Daily Worker and many
ether publications, Ellis, is known far
beyond the limits of5Chicago. There
is scarcely revolutionary publica-
ton in any country which has not
i reproduced his drawings. &
Worker All His. Life
Ellis comes of workingclass fam
ily He has been aJ,werker all his
life. AS a proletarians artist, and be-
cause Of the deep loyeahe has for the
class from which he sprung, he has
much IN common with lille revolu-
tionsry artist of Germany. He
worked in the stockyards of Chicago,
in Upton Sinelair's Jungle, and took
part in the strike of 1905 During the
long strike he attended art school for
four months-the only art training
he has received. Then he became a
sign painter. AS an active member of
his trade union, he worked at this
dangerous occupation for twenty
years. He painted signs on buildings
and smoke stacks at great heights.
In the evenings he perfected his art.
He has drawn for bourgeois publ
cations only once-three anti-war
drawings he sold long before the
world war MY only recognition in
the bourgeois art world he calls it.
Asked why he does not; draw oftener
for bourgeois publications, he will
tell you he has no time. Revolution
airy publications havese absorbed all
his energy.
He is in the forties now. His head
is prematurely gray, but, he looks ten
years younger. He has delightful
sense of huiaor and his stories Of the
reformist trade unionoto which he
had to belong in hisstrade in Chicago
are gems of story telling. Despite
his views, he was liked so well in his
union that he was once. proposed for
the position of business agent. 81
declined, he says. RI Couldn't shoot
that straight" In the American rev.
olutionary movement there is hardly
a person better liked. with more loyal
personal friends. Ellis genuine per-
sonal warmth is reflected in his
drawings. 80
Indefatiguable Artist
Ellis has drawn for the American
Daily Worker since 1924. Many of
his cartoons have been particularly
effective in struggle, The packing
house workers of Omaha sent for
five thousand copies of one issue of
the Daily Worker because of a car
toon by Ellis. His daily cartoons at
the height Of the struggle to free
Sacco and Vanzetti were inspired His
oest work has been collected in the
books "The Case Of Sacco and Van
zetti in Cartoons by Fred Ellis" and
in the yearly RED Cartoons" books
which were issued for five years.
For two weeks in 1880 he drew car
toors for Rote Fahne in Berlin, on
bis way to the Soviet Union. Russian
workers knew the work of Fred Ellis
long before he arrived His Amer
lean cartoons we're reptinted widely
in the Soviet Union. In Mocow he
was for while on the staff of
Pravda (Trutr). Since then his work
has appeared in the Lenihgrad Prav-
da, Konlsomolskaya (Komsomol--
Young Communist League-Truth)
Pravda, Leningrad Krsnaya Gazeta
(Red Gazette), the Moscow Daily
News and many other publications.
He hiss done scores Of posters. He
has illustrated Mary Heaton Vorse's
novel Strike
staff Artist of "Trud"
Ellis best work has been done for