Olaf Wieghorst Pen & Ink Drawing/Christmas letter ~ Illustrated letter

Description: A terrific illustrated letter, Christmas greeting, to "The Wosequests" in 1957 from famous western artist Olaf Wieghorst. The sight measurement is 11" x 8.5". The medium is pencil and ink on paper. The image is a regal Plains Indian warrior his lance while mounted on his pony. 100% authenticity guarantee. I collect illustrated letters, and I have decided to cull some of them from my own personal collection. Flat shipping includes full value insurance. Olaf Carl Wieghorst was born to a display artist and a photo retoucher in Viborg, Jutland, Denmark in 1899. His education was in the Copenhagen public schools and, at a young age, he developed an acrobatic act at the Tivoli Theater in Copenhagen where he was breathlessly billed as "Little Olaf- The Miniature Acrobat." By the age of fourteen Olaf Wieghorst, who would eventually grow to be over 6'4", was too big to be logically referred to as miniature, and started working on a stock farm, where he first learned to ride horses and began to teach himself to paint.The passion that Olaf Wieghorst developed for horses would be a source of lifelong inspiration. Transfixed by the stories and images of the American west, Olaf Wieghorst joined the crew of a Dutch shipping vessel and promptly jumped ship in New York City, despite the fact that he had $1.25 to his name and knew not a word of English. Olaf Wieghorst joined the US Cavalry and was stationed at the Mexican border as a horseshoer, a job that allowed him contact with his primary preoccupation. He also learned rodeo and trick riding techniques from the men around him and further developed his painting style.Olaf Wieghorst left the service and worked as a ranch hand in Arizona at the Quarter 2C Ranch, whose brand he adopted as his insignia. Olaf Wieghorst returned to New York City in 1923 and joined the police force, graduating in 1925. He was assigned to the Police Show Team of the Mounted Division, and continued to paint. The first professional representation Olaf Wieghorst had was in 1940 when an agent he had found sold vast quantities of his work to publishers as calendar art and western illustration.The change in his lifestyle after he began to find artistic success was dramatic. By 1942 his commissioned paintings went for $500 and, two years later, Olaf Wieghorst had retired from the Police Department and was living in El Cajon, CA. Olaf Wieghorst would produce the majority of his life's work in California and would be best known during his lifetime as a painter of horse portraits, including such equine celebrities as Roy Rogers' Trigger and Gene Autry's Champion. Wieghorst's work is in many prestigious western collections, including those of Barry Goldwater, The Eisenhower Library and the Whitney Gallery in Cody, Wyoming **********************.Acclaimed by critics as the outstanding contemporary Western artist, Olaf Wieghorst earned these accolades during a lifetime of observing, handling and painting horses and the West.Olaf was born to Karl and Anna Wieghorst on April 30, 1899, in the village of Viborg, Jutland, Denmark. He was only 19 years old when he came to New York on December 31, 1918 aboard an old Danish steamer. He had only $1.25 in his pocket and spoke no English. For better or for worse, Olaf had come to America to stay.Olaf joined the United States Calvary and requested duty on the Mexican border. This was his dream come true; he was going West! After the military, Olaf drifted and worked as a cowboy. "I have been observing horses for so many years that I guess I've begun to think like one. That's what I mean when I say that the horse has been my greatest teacher. Horses have been my companions under nearly all possible conditions."Here was a man deeply in love with the West and its people and its way of life. Here was a man possessed with the talent to create on canvas this love.His paintings are in the great private collections of Western art including those of Clint Murchison, Leonard Firestone, Barry Goldwater, Earl Adams, Sam Campbell, Jack Goodman, Read Mullan, C.R. Smith, Bruce Gelker, Fred Utter as well as The Eisenhower Library, Abilene, Kansas, and the Whitney Gallery, Cody, Wyoming.

Price: 1275 USD

Location: Littleton, Colorado

End Time: 2023-11-13T19:37:55.000Z

Shipping Cost: 48.85 USD