I came across this artist via James Gurney’s blog (a worthwhile read if you ever need inspiration). Nordström was a Swedish landscape painter with a unique, whimsical style as if he were painting a dream. I don’t like all his work equally. There are a handful of paintings that stand above the rest in my opinion (see below). But these paintings are truly stunning and warrant him being this month’s featured artist.
Here are some of his other paintings:
Here are some links to learn more about his life and work:
- Wikipedia – Karl Nordström
- Byron’s Muse Blog Post – Karl Nordström
- The Association Karl Nordström – In a foreign language. Use Google translate to read the content. The gallery page features many of Nordström’s works. Below are some extracts I translated:
Karl Nordström lived 1855-1923 (born at Tjörn) and around the turn of the last century led the Artists’ Union and its school in Stockholm. He was for a long time chairman of the association, which was started as a reaction to the conservative Royal Academy of Arts. As an artist, KN was considered Sweden’s first and perhaps only genuine impressionist. He was a trailblazer in the field of art and belongs to the foremost ever in Swedish artistry, above all as a landscape painter.
From Prince Eugen’s speech at Karl Nordström’s grave on August 21, 1923: “He always fought for tomorrow’s truth against today’s common view and he experienced that time proved him right. It was nature, the ever-renewing nature, to which he devoted all his love, it was to his art that he sacrificed all his strength.”
I quite enjoyed this! Thanks Dan!
I really enjoyed reading Byron’s Muse blog and his response to the Field of Oats. At first I thought The Oat Field Lyrons was one and the same but it is so different without the distant farmer. Both are very accomplished and this painter’s use of atmospheric colour to feature places which normally might not signify is wonderful. However, it’s the muted space contrasted with the distant figure in the former which creates the nostalgia and loss of passing summer. I love The Blue Room too. How clever to create such depth and a feeling of complete intimacy with colour value, especially when the figures are front facing and the composition horizontal. Thanks for pointing me in the direction of this man.