Gerald Cassidy, known for his subjects of the Southwest including Indian portraits and for his lithography, was born in Covington, KY., and grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. He studied at the Mechanic Institute in Cincinnati and with Frank Duveneck at the Cincinnati Art Academy. He worked as an Art Director at a lithography firm in New York City and during this time, studied briefly at the National Academy of Design and the Art Students League.

Diagnosed with tuberculosis at age 20, Cassidy went to a sanitarium in New Mexico, a move that introduced him to life in the West. He first earned his living by painting portraits of Indians and scenes of the Southwest that were intended to be reproduced on postcards...