Gunnar Widforss Mountain Landscape Watercolor Painting

Item Details

Gunnar Mauritz Widforss (American/Swedish, 1879 – 1934)
Untitled (landscape)
Watercolor painting on paper
Signed to lower left

Best known for his watercolors of wilderness scenes, notably the landscapes of the American National Parks. Born in Stockholm, Sweden, Widorss immigrated to California in the early 1920s. Soon after, he frequented Yosemite Valley and became friends with the first National Park Service director, Stephen Mather. Mather encouraged Widforss’s talent for painting landscapes and bestowed the nickname “Painter of the National Parks.” In 1923, he traveled Southwest and visited the Grand Canyon. The splendor of the national park convinced Widforss to become an American citizen. In 1928, Widforss was awarded first prize at the California School of watercolorists exhibition. During the 1930s, he was employed by the Works Progress Administrations. His watercolors are highly collected and many are exhibited at national park museums.

Everything But The House would like to thank the Gunnar Widforss catalogue raisonné project for assisting with attribution (GWCR 305).

Condition

- toning and minor mat burn to sheet; slight warping to sheet; no glass to frame.

Dimensions

- measures frame; sight measures 6.5" W x 4.5" H.

Item #

ITMA000CU9