George Carlson

George Carlson was born in Elmhurst, Illinois on July 3, 1940. At an early age his parents recognized his talent for drawing and encouraged its development. After graduating from high school he studied at the American Academy of Art in Chicago.

At age twenty, Carlson began working as a commercial artist and attended classes at the Art Institute of Chicago. After five years he left the commercial art world. His interest was in the American West for which he headed. For the first year he painted and sculpted in Taos, New Mexico.

Carlson has won numerous awards for both his sculpture and his painting, including the Prix de West and several Gold Medals from the National Academy of Western Art in Oklahoma City. He has also had several important solo exhibitions, including an exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution and major retrospective at the Indianapolis Museum of Fine Art. George Carlson currently lives in Northern Idaho were he continues to work.