Gerda Maria Ahlm - from Svenskt Porträttgalleri XX

Gerda Maria Ahlm (May 24, 1869 – 1956) was a Swedish-born painter and art conservator.

Biography

Gerda Maria Ahlm was born in

Västerås Västerås ( , , ) is a city in central Sweden on the shore of 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 is the se ...

, Sweden. She studied at the Royal Swedish Academy of Art in Stockholm (1889-91) and later studied etching with the engraver

Axel Tallberg Axel Tallberg (23 September 1860 – 8 January 1928) was a Swedish visual artist and engraver. He is remembered for his etching course at the Royal Swedish Academy of Art and for his portraits, including those of King Oscar II, Leo Tolstoy and Th ...

(1896). She made several trips around Europe for further study in the years between 1892 and 1900. She studied at the Académie Colarossi in Paris and traveled in Italy, England, Norway, and Belgium. Becoming interested in restoring art, she trained in art conservation with F. C. Sessig at the

Alte Pinakothek The Alte Pinakothek (, ''Old Pinakothek'') is an art museum located in the Kunstareal area in Munich, Germany. It is one of the oldest galleries in the world and houses a significant collection of Old Master paintings. The name Alte (Old) Pi ...

in Munich. Her skill and reputation were such that she gained a number of important commissions, including restoring family portraits belonging to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

of Sweden. In 1903, she emigrated to the United States and took up a position as assistant restorer at the

Metropolitan Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

in New York. She eventually settled in Chicago, where she worked as an art conservator for the Art Institute of Chicago as well as other art institutions and private collectors, becoming one of her adopted country's top conservators. She continued to exhibit her own paintings of landscapes, domestic interiors, and portraits of women executed in a loosely Impressionist style. Ahlm was a member of the Swedish women's association

Nya Idun Nya Idun is a Swedish cultural association for women founded in 1885, originally as a female counterpart to Sällskapet Idun ('the Idun Society'). Its aim was to "gather educated women in the Stockholm area for informal gatherings". There was a ...

Biography

References

Further reading