Edward Borein
(1872 - 1945)
John Edward Borein was a
proficient roper and rider before his
work was printed in The Land of Sunshine
magazine in 1896 -- work that was
submitted only after strong
encouragement from his cowhand
acquaintances. His friendship with the
magazine's founder, Charles Fletcher
Lummis, would last until the latter's
death.
By 1900 he had returned to his childhood
home in Oakland. In 1904 he began to
work in earnest as an illustrator for
bay area newspapers and magazines,
including Sunset Magazine.
On the recommendation of friends, Borein
moved to New York in 1907 to immerse
himself in the fast-paced illustrators'
world. Borein spent twelve of the most
productive and rewarding years of his
career in the East. Borein maintained
friendships with many Western artists,
including C M. Russell and Maynard
Dixon, as well as a wide circle of New
York illustrators. He also had
long-standing friendships with other
celebrities, including Jack London,
Teddy Roosevelt, Annie Oakley, "Buffalo
Bill" Cody, Will Rogers, and many people
involved in the early Western film
industry.
He returned to California permanently in
1919 and remained there for the rest of
his life as a prolific and successful
independent artist. |
Borein's
concern was to convey a flavor of
authenticity without pretension, factual
fussiness, or complex aesthetic effects,
based in the concrete facts of the life
he lived and observed. |