Fred Machetanz is the most widely acclaimed artist to continue the traditional frontier image of Alaska into the present day. Focusing on Alaskan animals, Native people, pioneers, and the dramatic landscape, Machetanz's work is widely reproduced and highly sought after by individuals and public collections throughout the United States and abroad.

Born in 1908 in Kenton, Ohio, and trained in art at Ohio State University, Machetanz intended a brief visit to his uncle Charles Traeger's remote Unalakleet, Alaska trading post in 1935, but remained for two years. After working as an illustrator in New York, sailing with a Coast Guard patrol along Alaska's coast, and serving in the Aleutians with the Navy in World War II, the artist ...