Edith Maria Fischerström née Olsson (1881–1967) was a Swedish painter,

graphic artist A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming l ...

, sculptor and art teacher. During the first half of the 20th century she produced scenic

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...

s and painted portraits and landscapes. From the 1950s, she concentrated on portraits, including those of animals, and in her mid-1970s began to sculpt animals and busts of famous people. Her work is in the collections of several Swedish museums including

Moderna Museet Moderna Museet is a state museum for modern and contemporary art located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, opened in 1958. In 2009, the museum opened Moderna Museet Malmö in Malmö. History The museum opened in Stockh ...

and

Nationalmuseet The National Museum of Denmark (Nationalmuseet) in Copenhagen is Denmark's largest museum of cultural history, comprising the histories of Danish and foreign cultures, alike. The museum's main building is located a short distance from Strøget ...

. retrieved 26 May 2021

Biography

Born in Stockholm on 24 September 1881, Edith Maria Olsson was daughter of the architect (1848–1926) and his wife Elvira Vilhelmina née Wöllner (or Woelner). She was the younger of the family's two children. From 1901 to 1903, she studied at 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 ...

under

Axel Jungstedt Axel Adolf Harald Jungstedt (17 March 1859 – 14 March 1933) was a Swedish painter and professor at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts. He is represented with paintings at the Gothenburg Art Museum, the National Gallery of Denmark, and the Nat ...

and

Oscar Björck Oscar Gustaf Björck (15 January 1860 – 5 December 1929) was a Swedish painter and a professor at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts. Biography Born in Stockholm, from 1877 to 1882, Björck was a student of Edvard Perséus at the Academy where h ...

. She continued her education on study trips to France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Germany. In 1905, she married the army officer Carl Fischerström with whom she had a son, Iwan, the following year and a daughter, Louise, in 1909. From 1904 to 1906, she taught art at a private school in

Sollefteå Sollefteå () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Sollefteå Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden. History The earliest written account on Sollefteå is found in a script dating back to 1270. During this time the name ...

. Thereafter, as a result of her husband's postings, the family moved to various locations in Sweden. After her father died in 1922, Edith and the children moved back Stockholm. Painting mainly in oils, she displayed her work at various exhibitions including the 1914 Baltic Exhibition in

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

. Her first solo exhibition was held in 1918, first in

Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...

and then in Stockholm's Nya Konstgalleriet. In 1928, she published an album of woodcuts she had made of scenes in Stockholm followed a few years later by scenes of the west coast titled ''Göteborgs hamn'' and ''Götaverken''. Her portraits included one of the textile artist Annie Frykholm (1934) now in Nationalmuseet while her landscapes included scenes from her travels and of

Halland Halland () is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap''), on the western coast of Götaland, southern Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Skåne, Scania and the sea of Kattegat. Until 1645 and the Second Treaty of Br ...

and

Scania Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous w ...

in Sweden. She also painted portraits, including some of animals. When she was 74, Fischerström turned to sculpture, depicting animals or creating busts of famous people. These included

Karen Blixen Baroness Karen Christentze von Blixen-Finecke (born Dinesen; 17 April 1885 – 7 September 1962) was a Danish author who wrote in Danish and English. She is also known under her pen names Isak Dinesen, used in English-speaking countries; Ta ...

Anna Branting Anna Matilda Charlotta Branting (; 19 November 1855 – 11 December 1950), was a Swedish journalist and writer. She was a Social Democrat and married to Swedish prime minister Hjalmar Branting. From the 1880s to 1917, she was an influential theat ...

and

Gerda Lundequist Gerda Carola Cecilia Lundequist (; 14 February 1871 – 23 October 1959) was a Swedish stage actress, an Ibsen and Strindberg-thespian that in her time was known throughout Scandinavia as "The Swedish Sarah Bernhardt". Career Lundequist was ...

. Edith Fischerström died in Stockholm on 12 October 1967, aged 84.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fischerstrom, Edith 1881 births 1967 deaths Artists from Stockholm 20th-century Swedish painters 20th-century Swedish sculptors 20th-century Swedish women sculptors Swedish woodcarvers Swedish painters 20th-century Swedish women painters Swedish schoolteachers