Aberdeen Publications

Greetings from Aberdeen:

We are on the hunt to locate, photograph and catalog the paintings of Frank Clifford Ashford. Frank was born in Perry, Iowa but his family moved to the Rondell/Stratford area where they farmed. He studied portrait painting and moved to Paris in early 1900. Some of his family ultimately made it to Oregon and he spent a lot of time there painting scenes on the family farm. His greatest claim to fame was securing a sitting with President Coolidge in 1927 when the White House was in residence at the Black Hills. His portraits of Coolidge, his wife Grace, and Peter Norbeck still hang in the Custer State Game Lodge Lobby. Frank bounced in and out of Aberdeen and eventually landed in an apartment above Malchows. He passed away there in 1960. The Dacotah Prairie Museum and the K. O. Lee Aberdeen Public Library each have impressive collections of Ashford’s work. However, he painted hundreds of canvasses. We have located close to 60 of them which can be seen, along with a short bio, on our website, Www.frankashford.com. If any one has any leads on paintings, please let us know so we can add them to the online gallery. We are happy to travel to photograph or rescue any paintings.

Home - Frank Ashford View The Gallery

The Dacotah Prairie Museum has a great exhibit up right now. Check it out.

The Dacotah Prairie Museum in Aberdeen, South Dakota has an impressive exhibit of their portrait collection on display. Many Frank Ashford paintings are featured including this one of his wife Marjorie, which is the title of the piece. Frank was married to her for a very short time.

Historical photos, books and now this??? Crazy!!!