Carl Oscar Borg
1879 – 1947
BORN IN
Dais-Grinstad, Sweden
KNOWN FOR
Western, Indian genre, and landscape painting
Known for Southwest Indian portraits in various mediums including oil, watercolor, etchings, and woodblock, Carl Oscar Borg was born in Dais-Grinstad, Sweden.
In 1901, he arrived in San Francisco from Sweden, having jumped ship as a seaman on the “S.S. Arizonan.” Sponsored by Phoebe Hearst, mother of William Randolph Hearst, Borg studied art in Paris and Rome, and with Hearst’s encouragement, also painted Indian portraits. He then taught at the California Art Institute in Los Angeles, spent six months in Honduras, and from 1918-24, was an instructor at the School of Arts in Santa Barbara.
From 1924-1935, he was in California and Arizona doing commissioned paintings of Southwest Indian tribal ceremonies for Hearst and also did Grand Canyon landscapes.
