Class of Winter 1927
Carl Oscar Borg
b. Osterbyn Ostra, Grinstads, Sweden, 1879
d. Santa Barbara, California, 1947
The Grand Canyon, c. 1927
Oil on canvas
30 x 34 inches
On the GHS students’ first trip to Carl Oscar Borg’s studio, he spent hours showing them his collection of medieval weapons. Pleased by the students’ interest, Borg invited them back to see his collection of Egyptian treasures, acquired during his years with an archeological expedition to the Valley of the Kings, funded by his patron Phoebe Apperson Hearst. Later Borg undertook another long-term project with Hearst’s support--documenting the Hopi and Navajo Indian tribes’ daily activities before acculturation destroyed their way of life. The artist painted in Arizona and New Mexico each spring from 1916 to 1932. He completed Gardena High School’s The Grand Canyon on one of these sojourns. Borg considered the Grand Canyon his home, and had his ashes scattered there upon his death.
GIFTED: Collecting the Art of California at Gardena High School, 1919-1956 is organized by the GHS Art Collection, Inc, in association with the Gardena High School Student Body and curated by Susan M. Anderson.
