Elsa Celsing (25 March 1880 – 19 April 1974), also known as Elsa Backlund-Celsing, was a Russian-Swedish artist known for her portraits, still lifes, and scenes of domestic life.

Life

Born Elsa Carolina Backlund, she was the daughter of Swedish-Russian astronomer

Oskar Backlund Johan Oskar Backlund (28 April 1846 – 29 August 1916) was a Swedish-Russian astronomer. His name is sometimes given as Jöns Oskar Backlund, however even contemporary Swedish sources give "Johan". In Russia, where he spent his entire career, he ...

and Ulrika Widebeck. She was born in Pulkovo, Russia, where her father was for many years director of the Pulkovo Observatory. She studied art in nearby St. Petersburg with

Ilya Repin Ilya Yefimovich Repin (russian: Илья Ефимович Репин, translit=Il'ya Yefimovich Repin, p=ˈrʲepʲɪn); fi, Ilja Jefimovitš Repin ( – 29 September 1930) was a Russian painter, born in what is now Ukraine. He became one of the ...

and later with Anders Zorn in Sweden and

Eugène Carrière Eugène Anatole Carrière (16 January 1849 – 27 March 1906) was a French Symbolist artist of the fin-de-siècle period. Carrière's paintings are best known for their near-monochrome brown palette and their ethereal, dreamlike quality. He ...

in Paris. In 1912, she married Ulrik Fredrik Adolf Hugo Celsing, an agronomist, and moved to Sweden. They had three children. After her marriage, she signed her work 'E. Backlund-Celsing' in place of the earlier 'E. Celsing'. She died in

Västerås Västerås ( , , ) is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Mälaren, Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 154,049. Västerås ...

Art

Celsing became known for her portraits, still lifes, and scenes of domestic life painted with a vibrant palette and vigorous brushwork. She took part in the Panama–Pacific International Exposition of 1915. Her work is in the Swedish National Museum, the Värmland Museum, and the Västerås Art Museum as well as in several Russian museums.

References

This page is a translation from :sv:Elsa Celsing. Sources for that page include: *Hultcrantz Tore, ''Konstnärinnan Elsa Celsing'', Västerås: Culturnämnden, 1980, . (In Swedish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Celsing, Elsa Carolina Backlund 1880 births 1974 deaths 20th-century Swedish painters Swedish women painters 20th-century Swedish women artists