Lasting impressions: On the art in the Rees-Jones Collection
As construction progresses for the 2027 opening of the Rees-Jones Library of the American West, so too does the processing of incoming manuscripts, archival materials and other special collection items, facilitated by Rees-Jones archivist Christina Wood.
Shaped and generously given by Jan and Trevor D. Rees-Jones ’78, the Rees-Jones Collection – which will call the new library home – features a diverse array of thousands of works from as early as the seventeenth century, with subject areas including explorations, first-person narratives, Native American history and culture, overland migration and travel, the art of the West, and more.
The art featured in the collection is particularly striking, preserving the past and the subjects who defined it through vivid and powerful pieces, as illustrated through the collection’s Santa Fe and Pueblo Sketchbook.
Sketches of culture
Fernand Lungren lived from 1857 until 1932, and during his lifetime, he recorded a study of New Mexico and the surrounding areas with a particular interest in the cultures found there. His Santa Fe and Pueblo Sketchbook, likely created during the 1890s, is his personal sketchbook of Santa Fe, serving as a study of the area and including drawings, studies, ethnographic notes, translations, and other notes while engaging with the culture and customs of Native Americans in the region.
Lungren’s drawings depict the Native people, the Pueblos and more, featuring subject matter such as the landscape and ruins at Cochiti, portraits of the Peña Blanca, animals such as horses used for travel, and other objects found in Native American cultures.
Preserving the art of the Southwest
Similar to the Lungren sketchbook, the papers of painter Carl Oscar Borg – acquired in March of this year – allow for a window into the artistry, culture, and everyday life of the past. Borg, who lived from 1879 until 1947, was born in Sweden, trained as an artist in London, and moved to California to teach at the California Art Institute and the Santa Barbara School of the Arts. Borg’s portfolio emphasized California and the American Southwest, and the painter primarily used oil, watercolor, etching, and woodblock printing as his medium.
Notable from the collection is Borg’s personal guest book, as the artist held strong connections to the art world of the time. The item covers three decades of engagements with prominent artists of the time, also containing artwork and sketches from important artists such as Thomas Moran. Valuable certainly for its preservation of the art history of the Southwest, the collection also provides a fascinating insight into Borg’s travels to faraway destinations such as Europe and Egypt through the artist’s travel journal. These travels were funded by Phoebe Hearst, media giant William Randolph Hearst’s mother, who presented Borg with the Hearst Medal in recognition of her artistic patronage. This medal also resides in the collection.
The Borg papers range from 1885 until the end of the artist’s life, also featuring materials from 1966 relating to the painter, and will be available for use by researchers when the library opens.
This post was prepared in collaboration with Christina Wood, archivist for the Rees-Jones Library of the American West. For more insight into the Rees-Jones Collection, view the Rees-Jones digital collection online.
