Carl Oscar (or Oskar) Borg (March 3, 1879 – May 8, 1947) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

-born painter who settled in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and became known for views of California and the

SouthWest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

Biography

Carl Oscar Borg was born into a poor family in Grinstad parish,

Dalsland Dalsland () is a Swedish traditional province, or ''landskap'', situated in Götaland in southern Sweden. Lying to the west of Lake Vänern, it is bordered by Värmland to the north, Västergötland to the southeast, Bohuslän to the west, and ...

province, Sweden. Oscar Borg moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

at age 15 to assist portrait and marine artist George Johansen. In 1901, he sailed for the United States. Borg taught art at the California Art Institute in Los Angeles and at the

Santa Barbara School of the Arts Santa Barbara School of the Arts was a college of art founded in Santa Barbara, California, by artist Fernand Lungren (1857–1932) in 1920.

. He became a protégé of American philanthropist and art patron

Phoebe Hearst Phoebe Elizabeth Apperson Hearst (December 3, 1842 – April 13, 1919) was an American philanthropist, feminist and suffragist. Hearst was the founder of the University of California Museum of Anthropology, now called the Phoebe A. Hearst Mu ...

. She gave him the opportunity to return to Europe to study art. Borg was influenced by the nature of the southwestern United States, especially the states of

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

and

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

. He worked in various mediums including oil, watercolor, etchings, and woodblock. He was commissioned to paint posters for the railway company,

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...

. His posters were put up on the company's sales offices and attracted attention. He was known for his dramatic paintings of the Grand Canyon. Borg was a founding member of the Painter's Club of Los Angeles and the

California Art Club The California Art Club (CAC) is one of the oldest and most active arts organizations in California. Founded in December 1909, it celebrated its centennial in 2009 and into the spring of 2010. The California Art Club originally evolved out of The ...

. He was one of the first art directors for a major movie studio in Hollywood. He worked with the production of silent films in the years 1925–1928. Examples of his art are on display at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, Smithsonian American Art Museum and the

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), comprising the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, is the largest public arts institution in the city of San Francisco. The permanent collection of the ...

. His work was also part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1936 Summer Olympics.

Personal life

Borg was married to Lily Borg Elmberg. He was a member of the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the f ...

, the

National Academy of Arts The National Academy of Arts ( bg, Национална художествена академия) is an institution of higher education in Sofia, Bulgaria. It is the oldest and most renowned school of arts in the country. History The National ...

Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts (SNBA; ; en, National Society of Fine Arts) was the term under which two groups of French artists united, the first for some exhibitions in the early 1860s, the second since 1890 for annual exhibitions. 1862 Es ...

and the

Salmagundi Club The Salmagundi Club, sometimes referred to as the Salmagundi Art Club, is a fine arts center founded in 1871 in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan, New York City. Since 1917, it has been located at 47 Fifth Avenue. , its membership roster ...

Selected works

*''The Great Southwest Etchings'' (1936)

References

Other sources

*Widén, Albin ''Carl Oscar Borg; Ett Konstnarsode '' (Nordisk Rotogravyr. 1953) *Laird, Helen ''Carl Oscar Borg and the Magic Region: Artist of the American West'' (Peregrine Smith Books. 1986) *Schulz, Marlene R. ''Carl Oscar Borg: California Images'' (Santa Barbara Historical Society. 1990) *Cuba, Stanley L. ''Carl Oscar Borg, Chronicler of the Southwest'' (Western Art Digest. 1986)

External links

Carl Oscar Borg scrapbooks at the Smithsonian Archives of American ArtArt Signature Dictionary, genuine signature by the artist Carl Oscar Borg
Here are several examples of Carl Oscar Borg's signature. {{DEFAULTSORT:Borg, Carl Oscar 1879 births 1947 deaths 19th-century Swedish painters Swedish male painters 20th-century Swedish painters 20th-century Swedish male artists 19th-century American painters American male painters 20th-century American male artists 20th-century American painters Swedish emigrants to the United States 19th-century Swedish male artists 19th-century American male artists Olympic competitors in art competitions