George Frederick Keller was born in Prussia in 1846. After serving in the Civil War, Keller moved to San Francisco in the late 1860s. He first advertised as a draftsman and by 1877 was listed as a portrait painter. During the 1870s and 1880s he worked for lithographer George Baker while his illustrations and political cartoons appeared in The Wasp and other periodicals. For health reasons, he left San Francisco and disappeared. He is said to have died in 1927.
Works held: Bancroft Library (UC Berkeley); California State Library.
Source: Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940"
City Directory; Artists of the American West
(Doris Dawdy); California State Library (Sacramento).Nearly 20,000 biographies can be found in Artists in California 1786-1940 by Edan Hughes and is available for sale ($150). For a full book description and order information please click here