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Wilhelm von Wright (5 April 1810 – 2 July 1887) was a
Swedish-Finnish painter and amateur
naturalist.
Biography
Wilhelm von Wright was born at the village of Haminalahti in
Kuopio
Kuopio (, ) is a Finnish city and municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia. It has a population of , which makes it the most populous municipality in Finland. Along with Joensuu, Kuopio is one of the major urban, economic, and cult ...
, Finland. His ancestors included Scottish merchants who had settled in
Narva
Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru County, Ida-Viru county, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which ...
during the 17th-Century. His father Henrik Magnus von Wright was a retired Major who owned the family estate, Haminalahden.
Two of his brothers,
Magnus von Wright
Magnus von Wright (13 June 1805 – 5 July 1868) was a Swedish-Finnish painter and educator. In addition to bird illustrations, he was also known for his landscapes.
Biography
Magnus von Wright was born at the village of Haminalahti in Kuo ...
(1805–1868) and
Ferdinand von Wright
Ferdinand von Wright (19 March 1822, Haminalahti, near Kuopio - 31 July 1906, Kuopio) was a Finnish painter (belonging to Swedish-speaking population of Finland) - He is best known for his landscapes and animal paintings, especially his detailed d ...
(1822- 1906) also became painters and illustrators.
At the invitation of Magnus, he travelled to
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
in 1823, where he participated in producing the multi-volume ''Svenska Fåglar'' (Stockholm: C. von Scheele. 1828) for Swedish ornithologist Nils Bonde.
[Biographical notes](_blank)
from the Nordisk Familjebok
''Nordisk familjebok'' (, "Nordic Family Book") is a Swedish encyclopedia that was published in print from between 1876 and 1993, and that is now fully available in digital form via Project Runeberg at Linköping University. Despite their consi ...
@ Project Runeberg
Project Runeberg ( sv, Projekt Runeberg) is a digital cultural archive initiative that publishes free electronic versions of books significant to the culture and history of the Nordic countries. Patterned after Project Gutenberg, it was founded ...
.
His most important solo effort involved ''Skandinaviens fiskar'' (Stockholm: P. A. Norstedt & Söner, 1836-1857) by
Bengt Fredrik Fries
Bengt Fredrik Fries (24 August 1799, in Helsingborg – 7 April 1839, in Stockholm) was a Swedish zoologist.
He studied at Lund University.
Works
*Observationes entomologicæ (1824)
*Beskrifning nya insekter från Colombien (1833).
*Skandinaviens ...
and
Carl Jakob Sundevall
Carl Jakob Sundevall (22 October 1801, Högestad – 2 February 1875) was a Swedish zoologist.
Sundevall studied at Lund University, where he became a Ph.D. in 1823. After traveling to East Asia, he studied medicine, graduating as Doctor of Med ...
, for which he provided 60 color illustrations. He also contributed drawings to the Swedish periodicity ''Tidskrift för Jagare och Natur Forskaren'' which was published in Stockholm by the Svenska Jägareförbundet for hunters and naturalists.
In 1833, he became a member of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce and, two years later, was elected to the
Royal Swedish Academy of Arts
The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts ( sv, Kungliga Akademien för de fria konsterna), commonly called the Royal Academy, is located in Stockholm, Sweden. An independent organization that promotes the development of painting, sculpture, architec ...
. After 1836, he lived on the island of
Orust
Orust () is an island in western Sweden, and Sweden's third largest island. In 2014 Statistics Sweden declared it to instead be the fourth largest island, under a definition which adds artificial canals to the possible bodies of water surrounding ...
in the parish of
Morlanda
Orust Municipality (''Orusts kommun'') is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Henån, with an approximate population of 1,800.
The municipality includes Sweden's third largest island O ...
in
Bohuslän
Bohuslän (; da, Bohuslen; no, Båhuslen) is a Swedish province in Götaland, on the northernmost part of the country's west coast. It is bordered by Dalsland to the northeast, Västergötland to the southeast, the Skagerrak arm of the North Sea ...
where he established his residence at
Marieberg. In 1845 he married Maria Margareta Bildt (1816-1884). In 1855, he was appointed as inspector for fisheries in Bohuslän. Not long after, he had a stroke, which left him incapacitated for the rest of his life. After his wife's death in 1884, he suffered a serious decline and died early at
Orust
Orust () is an island in western Sweden, and Sweden's third largest island. In 2014 Statistics Sweden declared it to instead be the fourth largest island, under a definition which adds artificial canals to the possible bodies of water surrounding ...
in 1887.
See also
*
Von Wright The von Wright family () is a Swedish and Finnish noble family founded by the Scotsman George Wright, who emigrated from Dundee to Narva in Swedish-ruled Estonia, in the mid-17th century, Wright's grandsons (and their descendants) by his son Henri ...
*
Von Wright brothers
Of the five von Wright brothers, three were artists:
*Magnus von Wright (1805–1868)
*Wilhelm von Wright (1810–1887)
*Ferdinand von Wright (1822–1906)
These ornithologists, scientists, nature illustrators and artists were born in Haminalahti ...
References
Further reading
* Anto Leikola, Juhani Lokki and Torsten Stjernberg:
**Von Wright -veljesten linnut (“The Birds of the von Wright Brothers”). Otava, 2003.
**Taiteilijaveljekset von Wright: Suomen kauneimmat lintumaalaukset (“The Artist Brothers von Wright: Finland's Most Beautiful Bird Paintings”). Otava, 1986.
* Wilhelm & Ferdinand von Wright dagböcker (journals). Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland, 2008.
External links
More works by von Wrightat the Kansallisgalleria.
"Cultural Path in the Landscape of the von Wright Brothers"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Wilhelm von
1810 births
1887 deaths
Finnish illustrators
Finnish naturalists
People from Kuopio Province (Grand Duchy of Finland)
Finnish emigrants to Sweden
Finnish people of Scottish descent
Swedish-speaking Finns
Birds in art
19th-century Finnish painters
Finnish male painters
19th-century Finnish male artists