Agnes Fredrika Börjesson, sometimes called Agneta (1 May 1827,

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

– 26 January 1900,

Alassio Alassio (Ligurian: Arasce or Arasci) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Savona situated in the western coast of Liguria, Northern Italy, approximately from the French border. Alassio is known for its natural and scenic views ...

, Italy), was a Swedish painter who specialized in

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

and historical scenes.

Biography

Her father,

Johan Börjesson Johan Börjesson (30 August 1790 – 6 May 1866) was a Swedish prelate, poet, and dramatist, associated with the Swedish phosphorist and romanticist movements. He was holder of chair 3 of the Swedish Academy. Biography Johan Börjesson was bo ...

, was a pastor and playwright. Her mother was a member of the noble

Fock family Fock is a Swedish noble family originally from Westphalia, Holy Roman Empire, from where members relocated to the Baltics. In 1651 four brothers were naturalised as Swedish nobility, from which three ''freiherr'' (baron Baron is a rank of nobi ...

. In 1849, she became one of the first four women admitted to the

Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts (), commonly called the Royal Academy, is located in Stockholm, Sweden. An independent organization that promotes the development of painting, sculpture, architecture, and other fine arts, it is one of seve ...

and, from 1852 to 1853, studied with

Constantin Hansen Carl Christian Constantin Hansen (Constantin Hansen) (3 November 1804 – 29 March 1880) was one of the painters associated with the Golden Age of Danish Painting. He was deeply interested in literature and mythology, and inspired by art his ...

, who had recently spent a decade working in Italy. From 1854 to 1856, she studied with the portrait and history painter, Johan Christoffer Boklund. In 1857, she completed her studies with Benjamin Vautier, an exponent of the

Düsseldorf School Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the seventh-largest city in Germany, with a 2022 population of 629,047. The Düssel, ...

. After spending some time in Paris, she went to Italy in 1865, inspired by her time with Hansen. She returned to Düsseldorf, briefly, for some private lessons with

Wilhelm Sohn Johann August Wilhelm Sohn (29 August 1829, in Berlin – 16 March 1899, in Pützchen, near Bonn) was a German genre painter and art professor. Life Johann August Wilhelm Sohn was born 29 August 1829, in Berlin, Germany. In 1847, he went to ...

. She settled in Rome, and for a time lived with her friend, the painter Sofie Ribbing. Eventually she decided to stay in Italy, although she continued to send her works to Sweden, and, until 1880, participated in exhibitions at the Royal Academy, of which she became a member in 1872. She also had a showing at the

1873 Vienna World's Fair The 1873 Vienna World's Fair () was the large world exposition that was held from 1 May to 31 October 1873 in the Austria-Hungarian capital Vienna. Its motto was "Culture and Education" (). History As well as being a chance to showcase Austro- ...

. Many of her paintings were created en

plein aire ''En plein air'' (; French for 'outdoors'), or plein-air painting, is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein air' painting is c ...

. In the latter part of her career, she adopted the

Divisionist Divisionism, also called chromoluminarism, is the characteristic style in Neo-Impressionist painting defined by the separation of colors into individual dots or patches that interact optically..Homer, William I. ''Seurat and the Science of Pain ...

style. She spent long periods in Venice and on Sicily, as well as making short visits to Spain and Morocco. During her last three years, she lived in

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

. Her works may be seen at the

Göteborgs konstmuseum Gothenburg Museum of Art () is located at Götaplatsen in Gothenburg, Sweden. It claims to be the third-largest art museum in Sweden by the size of its collection. Collections The museum holds the world's finest collection of late 19th-cen ...

and the

Nationalmuseum Nationalmuseum is the List of national galleries, national gallery of fine arts of Sweden, located on the peninsula Blasieholmen in central Stockholm. The museum's operations stretch far beyond the borders of Blasieholmen, including the Natio ...

References

Sources

* Carin Österberg, et al., ''Svenska kvinnor: föregångare, nyskapare''. Lund: Signum 1990 * ''

Svenskt konstnärslexikon The ''Svenskt konstnärslexikon'' is a dictionary of Swedish art and artists that was published in five volumes by Allhems Förlag AB from 1952 to 1967.More works by Börjesson
@ ArtNet

from the ''

Nordisk Familjebok (, 'Nordic Family Book') is a Swedish language, Swedish encyclopedia that was published in print from between 1876 and 1993, and that is now fully available in digital form via Project Runeberg at Linköping University. The public domain edit ...

'' @

Project Runeberg Project Runeberg () is a digital cultural archive initiative that publishes free electronic versions of books significant to the culture and history of the Nordic countries. Patterned after Project Gutenberg, it was founded by Lars Aronsson and ...

''Borjesson, Agnes''
In: Friedrich von Boetticher: ''Malerwerke des 19. Jahrhunderts. Beitrag zur Kunstgeschichte'' I-1. Dresden 1891.
Biography
from the ''Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart'', Vol.4 Pg.204, by eorg Nordensvan

from the ''Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon'' @

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borjesson, Agnes 1827 births 1900 deaths Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts 19th-century painters of historical subjects 19th-century Swedish painters 19th-century Swedish women painters People from Uppsala Artists from Uppsala County