Chicago artist Fred Larson was trained as a commercial lithographer. He was essentially self-taught and became an adept painter, water colorist, and wood engraver by working with a like-minded group of friends in the group known as the Palette and Chisel Academy of Fine Arts. He taught block printing to the young Gustave Baumann at the P&C. In later years, Larson traveled to New Orleans, and produced many of his best-known images based on his experiences there and along the Mississippi River; his 1929 book, Sketching in New Orleans and Along the Mississippi, is both a record of his travels and a valuable guide to his artistic philosophy.