Olaf Wieghorst (April 30, 1899 – April 27, 1988) was a Danish-American painter who specialized in depictions of theAmerican frontier. His art was in the vein ofFrederic Remington andCharles Russell. In 1992, he was inducted into theHall of Great Westerners of theNational Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.[1]
Olaf Carl Wieghorst was born inViborg, Denmark. He worked on a farm where he often rode horses.He was a bare-back rider in theSchumann Circus and performed acrobatic feats for Tivoli Theater inCopenhagen. Wieghorst emigrated to the United States from Denmark in 1918 at the age of 19.[2]
Wieghorst worked with the mounted patrol of the7th Cavalry Regiment of theUnited States Cavalry (1920-1922) with occasional interludes as a wrangler on ranches in the western states. Wherever he went, he sketched and painted the Western culture he loved, often selling his work as calendar and magazine illustrations. His work appeared inZane Grey's Western Magazine andHoofs and HornsArchived 2011-06-16 at theWayback Machine, an honor he shared with fellow cowboy artists includingDaniel Cody Muller (1889–1976).[3]
In 1924, Olaf Wieghorst married Brooklyn native Mabel Walters, In the same year, he joined theNew York City Police Department (1924–1944) where he became aMounted Police Officer with the Department. Due to his knowledge of horses, he was quickly sent to the Remount Section of the Mounted Unit where he broke and trained horses for the Unit. Wieghorst retired from the New York City Police Department in December, 1944, and once again headed west, with Mae and their son Roy.In 1945, Wieghorst settled inEl Cajon, California,San Diego County, California, and spent the rest of his life there working on his art. He was a self-trained artist and learned to work with oil painting and water colors himself. Over time he became a proficient painter and as a result,Grand Central Art Galleries chose to display his paintings. He also painted horses and studied their nature. The most famous of his models wereGene Autry'sChampion andRoy Rogers'Trigger.[4]
He appeared in twoJohn Wayne movies in the 60's;McLintock! (1963) andEl Dorado (1966). Some of his art work was used in the open titles sequence in the filmEl Dorado (1966).[5]
A retrospective of Wieghorst's work was presented at theNational Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum (1974–75).In 1985 two of his works,The Navajo Madonna andThe Navajo Man were sold for over $1 million. He died on April 28, 1988, inLa Mesa, CA.[6]
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