A native of San Leandro, California, Edward Borein is set apart from other Western artists because he never sought to romanticize his paintings. Instead, he used his art to accurately represent the details of the American West, most importantly its people, landscape, and traditions. He sought authenticity, often portraying traditional Native American Indians and old-time cowboys. He did not attempt to stage the subject matter of his paintings, but rather, painted entirely from memory and personal observation.
Borein was born on October 12, 1872. His father was the deputy sheriff of San Leandro in Alameda County. As a young boy, he was fascinated with the colorful Vaqueros as they drove the cattle. At age twelve he learned to rope and drive cattle. This time of development also afforded him the completion of his first oil painting.
At age eighteen, Borein bought a horse and bedroll and left home to seek work in the South. He settled in San Jose where he learned the proper methods for handling and herding cattle. After a year, he returned home to Oakland. Once home, he showed his mother the many sketches he produced while living in the South. Convinced he had serious talent, his mother enrolled him in the art school of the San Francisco Art Association. He gladly took the opportunity, but was soon disenchanted by the stifling environment of the classroom and remained there for only one month. In San Francisco, he met Maynard Dixon and later traveled with him touring the Sierras, Carson City, parts of Oregon, Idaho and Mexico. Through his journeys to Mexico, he gained a deep appreciation for the primitive lifestyle of the people. He spoke some Spanish and chose to work as a Vaquero. He used all his sketches and paintings as a tool to document the sensibility of the Mexican people, their tradition and the vivid landscape. Often, Borein used India ink to go over the pencil lines of his sketches. During this time of exploration, he expanded his artistic talents through experimentation with watercolors and sculpture.
By 1904 Borein had settled in Oakland where he rented a studio and worked as an illustrator for many successful magazines: Harper's, Collier's, Sunset, Century and Western World. His reputation increased greatly, and he gained national recognition as one of the most popular artists in the West along with Charles Russell, James Swinnerton, Maynard Dixon, Will James, Olaf Seltzer and Carl Oscar Borg.
In 1907 Borein went to New York City to work as an illustrator and also developed the techniques for etching. He is noted as a master etcher/engraver, a skill he learned at the New York Art Students League. Although Boreins' time in New York enhanced his skills as an artist, it lacked soulful enrichment, and he longed to return to coastal California. Meanwhile, his studio reflected the atmosphere of the West and he soon attracted other Western artists that were contemporaneously embedded in the bustling city center. Borein became fast friends with Charles Marion Russell, who he treated as a brother. Borein's flat became a beacon of Southwestern style, quickly gaining allure from the likes of; Will Roger, President Theodore Roosevelt, Leo Carillo, and others. At this time he also met his bride-to-be, Lucille Maxwell. Borein proposed to her after knowing her for only two days and they were married on June 27, 1921 at the home of Charles Lummis.
The couple settled in Santa Barbara where Borein continued to paint mainly in watercolors. He was a member of the Santa Barbara Arts Club, which regularly exhibited his paintings. Borein was a member of the American Artists Professional League and the Print Makers Society of California. In 1922 Gump's Gallery of San Francisco did a solo exhibition of his etchings. The show was nationally recognized, and Borein was elected into the Society of American Etchers. In 1927, he participated in the International Exhibition in Florence, Italy. He also exhibited his etchings in Paris through the American Federation of the Arts. Through the remainder of the 1920's, he began teaching at the Santa Barbara School of Arts. All the while continuing to produce etchings challenged by new techniques. Borein steadily gained recognition for his accomplishments and in 1971, he was elected to the Cowboy Hall of Fame (the first native Californian to receive this honor).
Edward Borein died on May 19, 1945 at his home in Santa Barbara. In his eulogy, he is noted as the "last artist of the Longhorn Era." One of the most significant contributions he made to American art is the use of his artistic talents as a tool to document the unique people and landscapes of the West -- forever immortalizing their lifestyles and traditions.
Works Held: Bancroft Library; University of California at Berkeley; Cowboy Hall of Fame; Palm Springs Desert Museum; Harper's; Montana Historic Society; New York Public Library; Gilcrease Collection, Tulsa; Century; Glenbow-Alberta Institution.
Exhibitions: Keppel and Company, New York, solo, 1915 & 1917; Cobb Gallery, Boston, 1919; Gump's, San Francisco, solo, 1922; Santa Barbara Arts League, solo, 1927; Amon Carter Museum, solo, 1962; Southwest Museum Pasadena California, solo, 1965; Santa Barbara Museum, solo, 1965; California Pal. Leg. Honor, solo, 1971.
Further Reading:
The American West: Legendary Artists of the Frontier, Dr. Rick Stewart, Hawthorne Publishing Company, 1986.
Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975: 400 Years of Artists in America, Vol. 1. Peter Hastings Falk, Georgia Kuchen and Veronica Roessler, eds., Sound View Press, Madison, Connecticut, 1999. 3 Vols. (Original Listing 1940)
The Illustrated Biographical Encyclopedia of Artists of the American West, Peggy and Harold Samuels, Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York, 1976.
Harmsen's Western American,. Dorothy Harmsen, Northland Press, Flagstaff, Arizona, 1971.
