Grand Canyon, 1929
Gunnar Widforss
1929
Swedish-born artist Gunnar Widforss first traveled to the Southwest in 1923 and began painting landscapes of Western national parks. He lived at the South Rim of Grand Canyon for several years and during this time, produced many paintings depicting park scenes. Widforss sold these works through the Fred Harvey Company art gallery at the El Tovar Hotel.
In 1924, Wiliam Henry Holmes, Director of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, said of the artist Widforss's Grand Canyon works, "They are remarkable as to geological construction and color. They give a more satisfactory understanding of the Grand Canyon than any that have hitherto been attempted. It is well nigh impossible to convey the immensity and grandeur of these marvels of nature but Widforss has accomplished it..."
Watercolor on canvas board. H 43.2, W 53.2 cm
Grand Canyon National Park, GRCA 13631