Christian August Jorgensen (Norwegian-American, 1860-1935), The Grand Canyon

Oil on canvas, 1910, signed and dated at lower right, retaining a label for C. Theo Sevin Fine Art in Buffalo, New York, presented in a period frame.

Stretcher size 30 1/4 x 20 1/4 in.; Frame dimensions 36 1/2 x 26 1/2 in.

Private Collection, Edenton, North Carolina

Christian August Jorgensen was a Norwegian-born American landscape painter best known for his depictions of Yosemite Valley and California’s historic missions. He moved to San Francisco with his mother in 1870 after his father’s death. At age 14, he was discovered sketching near the San Francisco School of Design and was invited to study there, becoming its first free student under the guidance of painter Virgil Williams.

Jorgensen focused on California landscapes, especially Yosemite, coastal scenes, and Spanish mission buildings. His work combined artistic skill with a documentary quality, capturing both natural and architectural landmarks of California. His paintings became popular for their detail and for showing scenes that were changing or disappearing as the state modernized.

In 1888, Jorgensen married Angela Ghirardelli, a student of his and a member of the Ghirardelli chocolate family. They traveled widely in the U.S., Mexico, and Europe, which influenced his work. In 1905, he built a stone studio and home in Carmel-by-the-Sea, later turned into the Hotel La Playa. He continued to paint until his death in 1935 in Piedmont, California.

Jorgensen exhibited extensively throughout his lifetime including the San Francisco Art Association, Cosmos Club in Washington, D.C., Bohemian Club and Sequoia Club in San Francisco, the Alaska-Yukon Expo in Seattle and others.

Minor craquelure; light surface grime.