Gottfrid Samuel Nikolaus Kallstenius (13 July 1861 – 26 May 1943,

Nacka Nacka () is the municipal seat of Nacka Municipality and part of Stockholm urban area in Sweden. The municipality's name harks back to a 16th-century industrial operation established by the Crown at Nacka farmstead where conditions for water mi ...

) was a Swedish painter.

Biography

Gottfrid Kallstenius was born at

Västervik Västervik is a city status in Sweden, city and the seat of Västervik Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden, with 36,747 inhabitants in 2021. Västervik is one of three coastal towns with a notable population size in the province of Småland. Cl ...

, Sweden. His brother (born 1868) was a zoologist and member of the ill-fated

Björling–Kallstenius Expedition The Björling–Kallstenius Expedition was an ill-fated, Arctic expedition led by Swedish naturalists Alfred Björling (1871-1892) and Evald Kallstenius (1868-1892). Their aim was to be the first to reach the North Pole. The expedition ended i ...

. After preparatory studies with Edvard Perséus, he was 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 ...

in 1884 and graduated in 1888 after receiving two medals for his work. In 1891, he married the painter Gerda Roosval. Shortly after, he was awarded a travel scholarship and they spent a summer in Paris, completing their educations. From there, they went to live in Le Pouldu, in

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

, where

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramist, and writer, whose work has been primarily associated with the Post-Impressionist and Symbolist movements. He was also an influ ...

had spent the previous summer. After about a year, they returned to Paris where he had further studies with

Raphaël Collin Louis-Joseph-Raphaël Collin (; 17 June 1850 – 21 October 1916) was a French painter born and raised in Paris, where he became a prominent academic painter and a teacher. He is principally known for the links he created between French and Ja ...

. Eventually, they settled in the Swedish artists' colony at

Grez-sur-Loing Grez-sur-Loing (, literally ''Grez on Loing''; formerly Grès-en-Gâtinais, literally ''Grès in Gâtinais'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department in north-central France. It is 6 km north o ...

. In 1893 and 1894 they visited Italy, where he developed an interest in ornamentation and decoration. From 1898 to 1904, for an artist's fee and a share of tuition, he taught classes in decorative art. He became a full-time teacher in 1910, after failing to receive a professorship in landscape painting. In 1912, he was appointed a Vice-Professor.Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon, ''Gottfrid S N Kallstenius'' During this period he abandoned his earlier Realist styles. He performed several large works; notably, an altarpiece in Västervik and murals at the

Nordstjernan Nordstjernan () is a Swedish investment company. Nordstjernan is a fourth-generation family company controlled by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation. The origin is the shipping company Nordstjernan, which was founded in 1890. Hist ...

building, as well as mosaics at the

Konstnärshuset Konstnärshuset (literally Artists' House) is a building in central Stockholm, Sweden. It is owned by the Swedish Artists Association (''Svenska konstnärernas förening'') and is used as an art gallery. History Designed by Ludvig Petersen, the bu ...

.Dag Widman, ''Konstnärernas hus. En mötesplats i svenskt konstliv under 100 år'', p. 54 Later, he did a large landscape painting for the foyer at the

Royal Dramatic Theatre The Royal Dramatic Theatre (, colloquially ''Dramaten'') is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's five running stages. The theatre has been at its present lo ...

. He also wrote several texts on oil painting, including ''Oljemåleriet, färgstoff och bindämnen'' (Oil Painting, Dyes and Binders, 1913), ''Handbok i oljemålning'' (Handbook of Oil Painting, 1915) and ''Konsten, dess väsen och betydelse'' (Art: Its Essence and Meaning, 1931). Most of his later life was spent with his wife Gerda at a villa they had built in 1906 designed by the architect (1887–1925). Their son, (1898–1957) was also a painter.

References

External links

Biography
@ the '' Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon''
Biography
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 ...

More works by Kallstenius
@ ArtNet {{DEFAULTSORT:Kallstenius, Gottfrid 1861 births 1943 deaths Swedish painters Swedish landscape painters People from Västervik