John Frew - Grizzly Bear Coffee Mug

Artist: John Frew. "Grizzly Bear Rag." c. 1910. Illustration features a grizzly bear astride a rock, roaring into the sky, with a river and mountains in the distance. Image modified from a publication of "The Grizzly Bear Rag" song and lyrics; the original image included the song title and composer's name (George Botsford), and can be found on other products in the store. The background sky is courtesy of Deep Flux designs. John Frew was a self-employed illustrator and commercial artist whose talented work was sought after in the early decades of the 20th century. He is most known for his large format cover art for sheet music from the early 1900s to around 1914. In addition to artwork for The Grizzly Bear Rag, his most widely distributed work is the famous Alexander's Ragtime Band song cover, which brought him a fair amount of commercial work. In his later years, he provided illustrations for comic and magazine/book covers in the 1930s and 1940s. Frew passed away in 1955.