Olof Per Ulrik Arborelius (4 November 1842 - 2 June 1915) was a Swedish landscape and

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 ...

painter. He served as a Professor 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 ...

from 1902 to 1909.

Biography

Arborelius was born in

Orsa, Sweden Orsa () is a locality and the seat of Orsa Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden, with 5,308 inhabitants (2010). It is located in the northern part of lake Siljan, about north of the town Mora. Inlandsbanan and European route E45 run through t ...

. The Arborelius family was originally from

Arboga Arboga () is a urban areas of Sweden, locality and the seat of Arboga Municipality in Västmanland County, Sweden with 10,989 inhabitants in 2020. Overview The city of Arboga is known to have existed as a town since the 13th century but the are ...

and can be traced to the 16th century. His father, , was a priest and

dialectologist Dialectology (from Greek , ''dialektos'', "talk, dialect"; and , '' -logia'') is the scientific study of dialects: subsets of languages. Though in the 19th century a branch of historical linguistics, dialectology is often now considered a sub-fiel ...

. His mother, Charlotta Dorotea Friman (1817-1892), was his father's third wife. His younger brother, , was an architect. In 1873, he married his cousin, Hedvig Maria Arborelius (1853-1909). His grand-nephew is Roman Catholic cardinal

Anders Arborelius Lars Anders Cardinal Arborelius (; born 24 September 1949) is a senior-ranking Swedish Catholic prelate who has served as Bishop of Stockholm since 1998. Pope Francis made him a cardinal, the first ever from Scandinavia, in 2017. He is a mem ...

. He received a recommendation for the

from

Johan Fredrik Höckert Johan Fredrik Höckert (26 August 1826 – 16 September 1866) was a well-known Swedish artist from Jönköping known for his colorful, dramatic oil paintings depicting historical events. He is one of the most famous nineteenth-century painters in ...

. After seven years of studying there, he took work in the studios of

Edward Bergh Johan Edward Bergh (29 March 1828 – 23 September 1880) was a Swedish jurist and landscape painter, associated with the Düsseldorf School. Biography Bergh was born in Stockholm, Sweden. He was the son of Severin Bergh and Emma Forsström. His ...

, but soon received a travel grant that enabled him to embark on a three year study trip to Europe. He visited

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and spent some time in

Düsseldorf 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 List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

. While in Rome, he became associated with the Virtuosi al Pantheon. When he returned to Stockholm he became a member candidate (''agré'') at the Academy. For many years, he was a Supervisor at the

KTH Royal Institute of Technology KTH Royal Institute of Technology (), abbreviated KTH, is a Public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH conducts research and education in Institute of technology, engineering and technology and is Sweden's largest te ...

(''Kungliga Tekniska högskolan''). In 1902, he was appointed a Professor of Landscape Painting at the Academy. He was originally counted as a follower 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, ...

. During the 1880s, he began to express opposition to the prevailing styles of teaching, but never embraced

impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

, although he sharpened the colors in his palette.Biography
@ the ''Svenskt biografiskt lexikon'' by Gerda Boëthius The illustrator,

Fritz von Dardel Fritz Ludvig von Dardel (24 March 1817 – 27 May 1901) was a Swedish diarist, illustrator and early comics artist. He was a courtier, and is known for his diary and illustrations depicting the life of the Swedish court in the mid-19th century ...

, felt moved to criticize his use of the color green. He made extensive use of folk motifs from

Dalarna Dalarna (; ), also referred to by the English exonyms Dalecarlia and the Dales, is a (historical province) in central Sweden. Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland. It is also bordered by Nor ...

. At the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

of 1903, one of his works was purchased by King

Victor Emmanuel Victor Emmanuel may refer to: * Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia (1759–1824), Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia * Victor Emmanuel II of Italy (1820–1878), King of Sardinia and later King of Italy * Victor Emmanuel III of Italy (1869–1947), King ...

. His works may be seen at 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 ...

and 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 ...

, as well as at the

Finnish National Gallery Finnish National Gallery (, ) is the largest art museum institution of Finland. It consists of the Ateneum, an art museum; Kiasma, a contemporary art museum; and the Sinebrychoff Art Museum, a historic house and art museum. The organization's ...

in Helsinki.

Gallery

File:Olof Arborelius-Vallflicka med getter.jpg, ''Girl with Goats''
(date unknown) File:Olof Arborelius - Vallflicka med boskap.jpg, ''Girl with cattle''
(1890) File:Arborelius - Lake View.jpg, ''Lake view''
(1893) File:Olof Arborelius - Sunnuntai Flodan kirkolla Taalainmaassa - A I 730 - Finnish National Gallery.jpg, ''Sunday at Floda Church in Dalarna'' (1885) File:Olof Arborelius - Molnstudie.jpg, ''Cloud Study''

References

External links

More works by Arborelius
@ ArtNet
''Olof Arborelius''
@ The Athenaeum
Works by Arborelius
@ Metropol Auctioneers {{DEFAULTSORT:Arborelius, Olof 1842 births 1915 deaths People from Orsa Municipality Artists from Dalarna County 20th-century Swedish painters Swedish landscape painters Academic staff of the KTH Royal Institute of Technology