Ivar Axel Henrik Arosenius (8 October 1878,

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

- 2 January 1909,

Älvängen Älvängen (earlier ''Elfängen'') is a locality situated in Ale Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 4,196 inhabitants in 2010. It is located some north of Gothenburg. Among the churches of Älvängen are the Älvängen Chur ...

) was a Swedish painter and picture book illustrator.

Biography

His father Henrik (1841-1901) was a railway engineer and Captain of the Road and Water Engineering Corps. He began by studying for the real estate trade then, in 1895, he received his first artistic training from an amateur watercolorist. The following year, he began formal studies at the

Valand Academy Valand Academy ( sv, Akademin Valand) is a school for film, photography, literary composition, and fine art at the University of Gothenburg in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was formed in 2012 through the merger of three formerly independent schools/de ...

, where he became friends with the sculptor, Gerhard Henning. He also took lessons at the

School of Design and Crafts The School of Design and Crafts ( sv, Högskolan för design och konsthantverk, abbreviated HDK) at the University of Gothenburg is a design school in Gothenburg. It belongs to the Faculty of Fine, Applied and Performing Arts. It was started in 18 ...

, in the department of

decorative painting A house painter and decorator is a tradesman responsible for the painting and decorating of buildings, and is also known as a decorator or house painter.''The Modern Painter and Decorator'' volume 1 1921 Caxton The purpose of painting is to imp ...

. In 1898, he was admitted to the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts, where he shared a studio with Henning. Ivar Arosenius med dottern Eva

He was, however, dissatisfied with the teaching methods there and switched to the Konstnärsförbundets skola ('Artists' Association School'), where he studied with Richard Bergh. After a short time there, he found himself dissatisfied again and returned to the Valand Academy; taking part in an exhibition created by Carl Wilhelmson. In Gothenburg, he collaborated with Henning and

Ole Kruse Waldemar Thisenius Kruse, known as Ole (13 May 1868, Haderslev - 29 November 1948, Bokenäs, Uddevalla Municipality) was a Danish-Swedish painter. Biography His father was a master painter and he began his career in his father's workshop. He i ...

. They were an odd group, because Kruse was a strict moralist whereas Arosenius was more devoted to pleasure. This was partly the result of his having been diagnosed with haemophilia by a doctor who recommended that he consume alcohol to improve his blood's ability to coagulate. Henning often had to serve as a mediator. In 1903, he undertook a study trip to Europe, beginning with Munich. He then went to Paris and spent the summer in the fishing village of

Coudeville-sur-Mer Coudeville-sur-Mer (, literally ''Coudeville on Sea'') is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It als ...

in Normandy. In 1905, he was back in Paris, participating in an exhibition of watercolors at the Salon des Indépendants. He later spent some time painting in Torsby. Henning-Arosenius

He eventually went to Stockholm and had a major showing 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 bui ...

. Soon after, he married Ida Adler and they settled in Åby, a small village near Kolmården Forest. They had a daughter that same year.''Minnesbilder av Ivar Arosenius - Ole Kruse - Gerhard Henning'', nedtecknade av Filip Wahlström m.fl, Rundqvists Boktryckeri, Göteborg 1956 It was then that he began contributing cartoons and drawings to ' and '' Söndags-Nisse'', both humor magazines. Hasse Zetterström, the editor of ''Söndags-Nisse'', devoted an entire issue to his work in April 1907. Later, he decided to move his family to

, where his mother-in-law owned a small property with a view of the Göta River. They lived in a four room cabin with a studio. In 1908, he made a major breakthrough at Lund University, where he held an exhibition, together with Henning and . That winter, he contracted a throat infection, which was not considered serious. The day after New Year's, his wife was awoken by a strange noise and found him sitting in a chair. When he tried to get up, he fell over and died. A blood vessel had broken while he was coughing and the blood had choked him to death. He was buried in Gothenburg, at the Östra kyrkogården. A major retrospective was held the year after his death. In the late 1960s, after his widow was killed in an accident in France, his cabin was torn down and the doors (made familiar by one of his popular illustrations) were installed at the Parish Church in Starrkärr. In 1978, his self-portrait was featured in a series of postage stamps which also included Karl Isakson and . The high school in Älvängen is named after him as is the "Aroseniusvägen", a street in Södra Ängby, Stockholm. Another street in Gothenburg, the "Aroseniusgatan" was named after him in 1944.''Göteborgs gatunamn'', Carl Sigfrid Lindstam, utgiven av Göteborgs drätselkammares gatunamnberedning 1945, sidan 105

Selected works

Troll-Arosenius.jpg, The Princess and the Troll Life and Death (Ivar Arosenius) - Nationalmuseum - 24307.tif, Life and Death Arosenius2a.jpg, Dreams of Love The First Tavern (Ivar Arosenius) - Nationalmuseum - 24439.tif, The First Tavern Arosenius3a.jpg, The Girl and the Candle

References

External links

More works by Arosenius
@ ArtNet
Works by Arosenius
@ The Athenaeum
''Kattresan''
his best known picture book, digitalized at the

Litteraturbanken The Swedish Literature Bank is a non-profit organisation whose objective is making classic Swedish literature and literary criticism freely available in digital editions. It is a collaboration between the Swedish Academy, the National Library of Swe ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arosenius, Ivar 19th-century Swedish painters 19th-century Swedish male artists Swedish male painters 20th-century Swedish painters 20th-century Swedish male artists 20th-century Swedish male writers Deaths from choking Deaths from bleeding 1878 births 1909 deaths

Biography

Selected works

References

Further reading

External links