Per Leander Engström, sometimes denoted as The Elder (27 February 1886 – 6 February 1927) was a Swedish painter. He specialized in portraits and colorful wilderness scenes in the

Expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

style.

Biography

Engström was born in 1886 in

Ytterhogdal Ytterhogdal () is a locality situated in Härjedalen Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden with 534 inhabitants in 2010. Being located in the province of Hälsingland, the village has connections to three provinces due to the municipality and cou ...

, Sweden. After attending the elementary school in Ljustorp, his family moved to Sundsvall, where he worked in a sawmill until he was fourteen. In 1901, he became an assistant at the local newspaper and joined a group of amateur artists headed by Helmer Osslund. Thanks to financial support from

Karl Nordström Karl Fredrik Nordström (11 July 1855 – 16 August 1923) was a Swedish painter who specialized in landscapes. From 1896 to 1920, he was Chairman of the Association of Artists (Konstnärsförbundet). Biography His father was a police commissio ...

, he was able to begin studies at the Artist's Association School ( Konstnärförbundets skola), from 1907 to 1908, then went to Paris, where he took lessons from

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, and sculptur ...

. He remained there until 1912. Back in Sweden, he was one of the first members of a short-lived group called "" (The Young), which applied Expressionist techniques to Swedish motifs. In 1914, he had a successful showing at the

Baltic Exhibition The Baltic Exhibition was held in Malmö, Sweden from 15 May to 4 October 1914. (The official closing date, September 30, was later extended by four days, as permitted in the general rules.) A Swedish world's fair The event showcased the industry, ...

. For much of his life, he travelled through the mountains of

Norrland Norrland (, "Northland", originally ''Norrlanden'' or "the Northlands") is the northernmost, largest and least populated of the three traditional lands of Sweden, consisting of nine provinces. Although Norrland does not serve any administ ...

, painting en plein aire. He built a small house in Abisko, one of his favorite locations. During the 1920s, he spent time in Italy: living in Florence from 1920 to 1923. In between, he created paintings on the ceiling of the , an early movie theater in Stockholm. In 1913, he married Maria Edlund and, the following year, had twin sons, and , who both became painters. He died at the age of forty-one in Stockholm, after a long period of poor health, and was buried at the

Skogskyrkogården Skogskyrkogården (; ) is a cemetery located in the Gamla Enskede district south of central Stockholm, Sweden. Its design, by Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd Lewerentz, reflects the development of architecture from Nordic Classicism to mature function ...

, south of Stockholm. His works may be seen at the

Moderna Museet Moderna Museet ("the Museum of Modern Art"), Stockholm, Sweden, is a state museum for modern and contemporary art located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, opened in 1958. In 2009, the museum opened a new branch in Malmö i ...

, Nationalmuseum,

Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde (Swedish for ''Cape Waldemar''), is a museum located on Djurgården in central Stockholm. The name is composed of Waldemar, an Old German noble male name, and udde, meaning cape. It is derived from a historical name o ...

, and the

Gothenburg Museum of Art Gothenburg Museum of Art ( sv, Göteborgs konstmuseum) is located at Götaplatsen in Gothenburg, Sweden. It claims to be the third largest art museum in Sweden by size of its collection. Collections The museum holds the world's finest collect ...

.Göteborgs konstmuseum
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Selected paintings

Leander Engström laplander1916.jpg, Lapplander Leander Engström Orchard with workers and mountain.jpg, Orchard with Workers Leander Engström The house on the cliff 1916.jpg, The House on the Cliff Leander Engström - Den givmilde gossen.jpg, The Devout Boy Leander Engström Girl with book.jpg, Girl with Book

References

Other sources

*'' Svenska Dagbladets årsbok - 1927'', red. Erik Rudberg & Edvin Hellblom, Åhlén & Åkerlunds Boktryckeri, Stockholm 1928 pg.242 *''Sveriges befolkning 1900'', (CD-ROM version 1.02) Sveriges Släktforskarförbund, 2006

External links

Biography
from the '' Svenskt biografiskt lexikon''
More works by Engström
@ ArtNet {{DEFAULTSORT:Engstrom, Leander 1886 births 1927 deaths Swedish painters Swedish landscape painters Swedish portrait painters Expressionist painters