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Borg (Carl Oscar) Personal Papers and Newspaper Clippings
MS.677
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Contributing Institution:
Library and Archives at the Autry
Title: Carl Oscar Borg Personal Papers and Newspaper Clippings
Creator:
Borg, Carl Oscar
Identifier/Call Number: MS.677
Physical Description:
0.1 Linear Feet
(1 folder)
Date (inclusive): 1906-1948
Abstract: The collection includes correspondence, programs, newspaper articles, and drawings related to Carl Oscar Borg from 1906-1948.
Carl Oscar (Oskar) Borg (born 3 March 1879, died 8 May 1947) was a Swedish born American painter who was known for his Western
landscapes and depictions of the Hopi and Navajo countries and their peoples. Borg was most famous for his paintings, but
also worked in other mediums such as woodcut, illustration, and monotype.
Language of Material:
English
.
Biographical note created by Maritxu de Alaiza, 2012 August 3. Finding aid completed by Anna Liza Posas, 2012 October 18.
Final processing of collection and publication of finding aid made possible by a grant from the National Historical Publications
and Records Commission (NHPRC).
Carl Oscar (Oskar) Borg (born 3 March 1879, died 8 May 1947) was a Swedish born American painter who was known for his Western
landscapes and depictions of the Hopi and Navajo countries and their peoples. Borg was most famous for his paintings, but
also worked in other mediums such as woodcut, illustration, and monotype.
Carl Oscar Borg was born into a poor family in Dals-Grinstad, Sweden in 1879. Borg apprenticed to a house painter at the age
of 15, traveled to Paris for a short time, and then moved to London where he became an assistant to portrait and marine painter
George Johansen. Borg arrived in San Francisco as a merchant seaman in 1904 and by some accounts jumped ship there. On his
way to Los Angeles from San Francisco, Borg discovered Santa Barbara, where he eventually made his home.
Borg met Phoebe Hearst, who recognized his talents and became his patron. With her help, he was able to travel to France and
North Africa to study art. Mrs. Hearst also furthered Borg's education by making arrangements with the Department of the Interior
for Borg to live among the Native Americans. Borg taught art at the California Art Institute in Los Angeles and at the Santa
Barbara School of the Arts. He was a founding member of the California Art Club in 1909, and the art director for the first
full-length motion picture ever made in color.
Borg returned to Sweden in 1934, and again in 1938 where he painted local scenes and people as well as exhibited his paintings
of the American Southwest. World War II kept Borg in Sweden despite the fact that he had become an American citizen. Borg
was eventually able to return to Santa Barbara. On May 8, 1947, Borg suffered a heart attack and died before he reached the
hospital. In his life, Borg had a love of the beauty of the Grand Canyon and had expressed the desire to have his ashes scattered
there. This request was fulfilled.
References:
Cowie, A.S. (1948). Carl Oscar Borg, A.N.A. Los Angeles, CA: Cowie Galleries exhibition booklet.
Miller, M. R. (n.d.). Carl Oscar Borg, artist of the American West. Resource Library Magazine. Retrieved from: http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/2aa/2aa414.htm
Carl Oscar Borg Personal Papers and Newspaper Clippings, 1906-1948, Braun Research Library Collection, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MS.677.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Autry Museum of the American West. All requests for permission to publish or quote
from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Research Services and Archives. Permission for publication is
given on behalf of the Autry Museum of the American West as the custodian of the physical items and is not intended to include
or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
Appointments to view materials are required. To make an appointment please visit
https://theautry.org/research-collections/library-and-archives and fill out the Researcher Application Form.
This collections includes correspondence, programs, newspaper articles, and drawings related to Carl Oscar Borg. The collection
also includes an illustrated Carl Oscar Borg bookplate. Illustration was done by Borg and is an image of a Native American
man making cave paintings.
Original drawings by Borg in this collections consist of a pen drawing of a Native American man wearing a feathered headdress
and sitting on top of a horse, and a pen and watercolor drawing of a Hopi woman. Both pieces of artwork are dated in 1946.
Donor unknown, acquired by the Southwest Museum Library after 1948. One newspaper clipping from the Elizabeth Mason Collection,
bequethed to the Library in 1953.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Clippings
Landscape paintings
Programs
Indians in art
Painters -- United States -- Biography
Correspondence
Indians of North America -- Portraits
Drawings
Hodge, Frederick Webb -- Correspondence
Dawson, Ernest -- Correspondence
Strobridge, Idah Meacham