Carl Magnus Oscar Friström (16 January 1856 – 26 June 1918), generally known as Oscar Fristrom, was a portrait painter and art teacher born in Sweden, who had a substantial career in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

and

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, and was best known for his depictions of

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Isl ...

. Fristrom did a number of Aboriginal portraits and paintings.

History

Fristrom was born a son of C. Friström of Sturkö, Blekinge in Sweden. He arrived in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

, Australia in 1883. By 1885 Oscar was employed at the Elite Photo Co., owned by D. H. Hutchison, where he was responsible for the colouring and over-painting of photographic portraits, which was much in vogue at the time. In 1884 Fristrom exhibited in the fine arts section of the annual Queensland National Association Exhibition, and by the late 1880s he was one of the few professional artists in Brisbane. He was also one of the first artists to create portraits of Aboriginal people, created through the technique of over-painting photographs. He was largely self-taught, but his second oil painting was of sufficient merit to be shown at the 1886 Brisbane Exhibition. He was, with L. W. K. Wirth, James Laurence Watts, and Walter Jenner, in 1888 a founding member of the Queensland Art Society. This led to R. Godfrey Rivers working for the foundation of the Queensland National Art Gallery. He left for

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

in September 1893, where he found employment with Fritz & Co. photographic studio, and in November was accepted as a member of the Adelaide Easel Club. While in Adelaide, Fristrom painted and sketched portraits of well-known Adelaide identity, Aboriginal man

Poltpalingada Booboorowie Poltpalingada Booboorowie (born – died 4 July 1901) was a prominent Aboriginal man of the Thooree clan of the Ngarrindjeri nation, who lived among the community of fringe dwellers in Adelaide, South Australia during the 1890s. He was a ...

. In August 1894 an exhibition of oil portraits by Fristrom was mounted at the "Easel Clubroom" at 62,

Rundle Street Rundle Street, often referred to as "Rundle Street East" as distinct from Rundle Mall, is a street in the East End of the city centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It runs from Pulteney Street to East Terrace, where it becom ...

in Adelaide. He returned to Brisbane in September 1894. The Society of Artists went into decline around 1901. In 1904 a new Society of Artists was formed; meetings were held in Fristrom's studio in "Oakden Chambers", Queen Street. Fristrom was its president at the time of his death, as well as a member of the advisory board of the Queensland National Art Gallery.

Family

Oscar married Caroline Rooke (1865 – 17 July 1948) of

Breakfast Creek, Queensland The Breakfast Creek ( Aboriginal: ''Barrambin'') is a small urban stream that is a tributary of the Brisbane River, located in suburban Brisbane in the South East region of Queensland, Australia. Course and features Rising as the Enoggera Cre ...

; in 1911 they settled at Mooloolah, Queensland, later moved to

Caloundra Caloundra ( ) is a coastal town and the southernmost town in the Sunshine Coast Region in South East Queensland, Australia. Geography Caloundra is north of the Brisbane central business district. Caloundra is accessible from Landsborough ...

, then 52 Wharf Street, Brisbane. She was well known as a musician and music teacher. They had two children: *Carl (25 March 1886 – ) married Ruby May Rooke (his cousin?) on 20 August 1921. *Alma Christina (6 July 1889 – 2 December 1943) married Samuel Burgess; they lived at Caloundra. Oscar had a brother Edward Friström, also an artist in Brisbane, and from 1903 in New Zealand. He married Margaret Johnston of South Brisbane in July 1886; they had a daughter Olivia, a promising pianist, and a son. Another brother, Tage Edward Friström, a member of the US Voluntary Infantry, was killed in 1898 fighting Spain in Manila. Dying on 26 June 1918, his funeral moved from the funeral parlour of John Hislop & Sons to the

South Brisbane Cemetery South Brisbane Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery at 21 Fairfield Road and Annerley Road, Dutton Park, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, adjacent to the Brisbane River. It was built from 1870 to 1990s. It is also known as Dutton Park ...

Notable works

Bust of Augustus Charles Gregory sculpted by Oscar Fristrom in 1905

In 1905 Fristrom sculpted a bust of

Augustus Charles Gregory Sir Augustus Charles Gregory (1 August 1819 – 25 June 1905) was an English-born Australian explorer and surveyor. Between 1846 and 1858 he undertook four major expeditions. He was the first Surveyor-General of Queensland. He was appointed a ...

, an explorer and first Surveyor-General of Queensland. In February 1906, Fristrom offered to sell the bust to the

Royal Geographical Society of Queensland On 22 June 1883, the Geographical Society of Australasia started at a meeting in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. A branch was formed in Victoria in the same year. In July 1885, both the Queensland and the South Australian branches started. ...

but the society decided not to buy it; however, they did display it at an event in June 1906. For many years the bust was displayed at Freemasons’ Gregory Lodge in Cairns (Gregory being depicted wearing his

Masonic regalia Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

). In 2018, the Freemasons donated the bust to the

Museum of Lands, Mapping and Surveying The Museum of Lands, Mapping and Surveying is a museum at 317 Edward Street, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It collects and exhibits material relating to the surveying of Queensland and the maps created. It is a sub-branch of the Queensland M ...

in Brisbane. As at 10 March 2020, the bust is at the entrance of the museum.

History

Family

Notable works

References

Further reading