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Olaf Wieghorst

30 x 36 "Pitching Paint" Oil on Canvas Signed l/l "O - Wieghorst" Signed & titled verso Purchased directly from the artist By descent, through the family Original Gold Frame Olaf Wieghorst (1899-1988) Son of a Copenhagen artist, began painting in 1916. With a history of rodeoing and trick riding, he found his way to Arizona, working as a ranch hand at the Quarter Circle 2C Ranch (his insignia). In 1923 he returned to New York City, graduating from the Police Academy in 1925. Assigned to the Police Show Team of the Mounted Division, Wieghorst painted in his spare time. By 1942 he was receiving commission for horse portraits and bronze and in 1944 Wieghorst retired from the Police Department, settling in El Cajon, California. By 1955 he had a waiting list of buyers. "I try to paint the little natural things, the way a horse turns his tail to the wind on cold nights, the way he flattens his ears in the rain, seasonal changes in the coat of a horse, and the psychology of his behavior. Horses have been my life". He is best known for his cowboys and horses, mostly notably Roy Rogers' Trigger & Gene Autry's Champion. He is considered one of the outstanding Western artist