Marius Dahlgren (1844-1920)

Born in Skelsior, Denmark in 1844. Marius studied under various masters at the Royal Academy in Denmark before immigrating to the U.S. in 1872. After living briefly in Salt Lake City, he moved to California and lived in San Jose for a few years. In 1878 he joined his brother and his new bride at their home in Oakland. Marius commuted daily to a studio in San Francisco where he became an active member of the local art association, and participated in local and state exhibitions. He sketched in the Northwest and Alaska in 1888-89 and was active in California until 1902 when he made his final move to Tucson, AZ. There he worked as an illustrator while painting many landscapes of the surrounding area. The frontispiece from Carl Lumboltz’s New Trails in Mexico was one of his last pieces of work as well as the frescoes in the St Augustine Cathedral in Tuscon. The last year of his life was spent as a caretaker of a mine in the Catalina foothills east of Tucson where he died on June 24, 1920. His paintings are rarer than those of his brother Carl. Exh: San Francisco Art Association, 1875-83. In: CHS; Orange Co. (CA) Museum; Oakland Museum (Alameda County Court House and View From Goat Island). Edan Hughes, “Artists in California, 1786-1940”