Collection is open for research.
Lorenzo E. Ghiglieri was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1931. He served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. As part of his military service, he worked as a combat illustrator, and one of his commissioned paintings was gifted to Great Britain in honor of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation. After his discharge from the Navy, he worked as a commercial artist, and he later moved to Portland, Oregon. Ghiglieri was a painter and sculptor, and his works typically depicted scenes of the American West and native wildlife, particularly bald eagles. One of his sculptures, a 27-foot-tall bald eagle, stands outside the Seven Feathers Casino near Canyonville, Oregon. He died in 2020.
Sources: Ghiglieri's website (accessed February 6, 2023),
A handwritten index (2 pages) is available for in-person use at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Oral history interview with Lorenzo E. Ghiglieri, by Linda S. Dodds, SR 9526, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
This oral history interview with Lorenzo E. Ghiglieri was conducted by Linda S. Dodds at Ghiglieri's studio in Portland, Oregon, on September 25, 1980, as part of the Oregon Historical Society Research Library's oral history program. At the time of the interview, Dodds' name was Linda S. Brody.
In this interview, Ghiglieri discusses his family background and shares his reasons for moving to Portland, Oregon. He talks about his career as an artist, about the people who taught him, and about how living in the Pacific Northwest influences his art. He speaks about his experience in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War, including the art he made as part of his service. He offers his personal definition of sculpture and talks about his favorite sculpting media. He speaks at length about life as an artist in Oregon, lists artists that influenced him, and talks about some of his paintings, including a portrait of President Richard M. Nixon, paintings in the Seventh-day Adventist multimedia presentation "Earth: Theater of the Universe," and portraits of Inuit people. He discusses the inspirations for some of his sculptures, including "Casey's Gold," which depicts a miner holding a nugget of gold, and his sculptures of wildlife. He closes the interview by talking about learning from his mistakes.
Copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed according to the following statement: Creative Commons - BY-NC-SA,