Yngvar Sonnichsen (March 9, 1873 – July 1938) was a Norwegian born, American artist and painter known especially for his portraits, landscapes and murals.

Background

Yngvar Sonnichsen was born in Christiania, (now

Oslo, Norway Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of i ...

to S.P. and Inga Mathea Sonnichsen. He studied at the

Norwegian Institute of Technology The Norwegian Institute of Technology (Norwegian: ''Norges tekniske høgskole'', NTH) was a science institute in Trondheim, Norway. It was established in 1910, and existed as an independent technical university for 58 years, after which it was m ...

Trondhjem Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

earning a civil engineering degree. He studied art at the

Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry The National College of Art and Design ( no, Statens håndverks- og kunstindustriskole) was established in 1818. In 1996 the National College of Art and Design became part of Oslo National Academy of the Arts The Oslo National Academy of the A ...

with Norwegian artists Oscar Wergeland and

Eilif Peterssen Hjalmar Eilif Emanuel Peterssen (4 September 1852 – 29 December 1928) was a Norwegian painter. He is most commonly associated with his landscapes and portraits. Biography Hjalmar Eilif Emanuel Peterssen was born in Christiania, now Osl ...

. Later, from 1895 to 1899, he attended the

Académie Julian The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number a ...

in Paris, studying with

William-Adolphe Bouguereau William-Adolphe Bouguereau (; 30 November 1825 – 19 August 1905) was a French academic painter. In his realistic genre paintings, he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of classical subjects, with an emphasis on the female ...

and

Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant (also known as Benjamin-Constant), born Jean-Joseph Constant (10 June 1845 – 26 May 1902), was a French painter and etcher best known for his Oriental subjects and portraits. Biography Benjamin-Constant was bor ...

Career

In 1904, Sonnichsen immigrated to

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John is a seaport city of the Atlantic Ocean located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of Ki ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

before moving to

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

in 1908. In 1917, Sonnichsen and his brother architect Sønke Engelhart Sonnichsen, designed and decorated a Seattle lodge with original oil-on-canvas murals and painting. Now Raisbeck Performance Hall at

Cornish College of the Arts Cornish College of the Arts (CCA) is a private art college in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1914. History Cornish College of the Arts was founded in 1914 as the Cornish School of Music, by Nellie Cornish (1876–1956), a teacher of pi ...

, in 1975 the building was designated as a Seattle historic landmark. The murals are now located in the Leif Erikson Lodge of the Sons of Norway in Ballard, Washington. Today, his works are also on display in municipal galleries in Oslo,

Arendal Arendal () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county in southeastern Norway. Arendal belongs to the Districts of Norway, region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the munici ...

and Laurvik, Norway,

Decorah, Iowa Decorah is a city in and the county seat of Winneshiek County, Iowa, United States. The population was 7,587 at the time of the 2020 census. Decorah is located at the intersection of State Highway 9 and U.S. Route 52, and is the largest commun ...

and

Honors

*First Prize at the International Exposition in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada (1906) *Gold and silver medals at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle (1909) *Honorable mention at the Northwest Artists’ Annual Exhibition, Seattle (1920 and 1927)

References

Other sources

*''Who's Who In Washington State'' (Seattle: Arthur H. Allen, 1927) *Selnes, Johan. ''Yngvar Sonnichsen'' (Nordmanns-forbundet. translators Jim Skurdal, Kari Grønningsaeter and Øyvind Gulliksen, Vol. 7 237–239. July 1929) *Kreisman, Lawrence and Glenn Mason ''The Arts and Crafts Movement in the Pacific Northwest'' (Portland, OR: Timber Press, Inc. 2007) *Leander, Kristine ''Norwegian Seattle, Images of America: Washington'' (San Francisco, CA: Arcadia Publishing. 2008) * Bjork, Kenneth O. ''Saga in Steel and Concrete - Norwegian Engineers in America'' (Northfield, MN: Norwegian-American Historical Association. 1947)

External links

Portrait of Yngvar Sonnichsen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sonnichsen, Yngvar 1873 births 1938 deaths Artists from Oslo Norwegian Institute of Technology alumni Oslo National Academy of the Arts alumni Académie Julian alumni 19th-century American painters American male painters 20th-century American painters Norwegian emigrants to the United States 19th-century American male artists 20th-century American male artists