John Fery

The following biography is submitted and written by Larry Len Peterson, author of John Fery: Artist of Glacier National Park & The American West

Johann Nepomuk Levy–John Fery’s name before he Americanized it–was born in Strasswalchen, Austria on March 25, 1859 to Hungarians Jahn and Mary Levy. Jahn was temporarily working for the railroad but soon returned to his wife’s prosperous family farm near Pressburg, Hungary. Johann’s idyllic childhood filled with painting, hunting, and hiking came to an end in his teenage years when both parents died unexpectedly. An inheritance allowed him to attend the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts where he studied many art styles including Realism, Romanticism, and Impressionism.