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 Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

and

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, and was best known for his depictions of

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...

History

Fristrom was born a son of Claus August Friström of

Sturkö Sturkö is a locality located on the island Sturkö in Karlskrona Municipality, Blekinge County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. ...

, Blekinge in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. He arrived in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Australia in 1883. By 1885 Oscar was employed at D. H. Hutchison's Elite Photo Co., 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 list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

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 The Adelaide Easel Club was a society for South Australian painters which broke away from the South Australian Society of Arts in 1892 and which re-merged with the parent organization in 1901. History The club was founded in November 1892 when a ...

. While in Adelaide, Fristrom painted and sketched portraits of well-known Adelaide identity, Aboriginal man

Poltpalingada Booboorowie Poltpalingada Booboorowie ( – 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 well-known an ...

. In August 1894 an exhibition of oil portraits by Fristrom was mounted at the "Easel Clubroom" at Fritz and Bernard's Art Palace, 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 becomes Ru ...

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: ''Yawagara '') 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 Cree ...

; in 1911 they settled at

Mooloolah, Queensland Mooloolah Valley is a rural locality in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Mooloolah Valley had a population of 3,629 people. Mooloolah is a town () within the locality. Geography Mooloolah Valley is in the Sunshine C ...

, later moved to

Caloundra Caloundra ( ) is a coastal town in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the town of Caloundra had a population of 96,305 people. Geography Caloundra is north of the Brisbane central business district. Caloundra is acce ...

, 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 Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

, 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. Fristrom died at 3am on 26 June 1918. He had been suffering from cancer for many months. His obituary in the ''Brisbane Telegraph'' called him "one of the best portrait painters in Australia". His funeral moved from the

funeral parlour A funeral home, funeral parlor or mortuary is a business that provides burial, entombment and cremation services for the dead and their families. These services may include a prepared visitation and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for t ...

of John Hislop & Sons to the

South Brisbane Cemetery South Brisbane Cemetery, also known as Dutton Park 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 1 ...

, where he was buried with

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

rites.

Notable works

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 The Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, formerly the Geographical Society of Australasia, was an Australian organisation formed in 1883 until it split up into various state organisations in the 1920s. The South Australian and Queensland b ...

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 Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

(Gregory being depicted wearing his

Masonic regalia Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

). 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 ...

in Brisbane. As at 10 March 2020, the bust is at the entrance of the museum. File:Fristrom Head-of-Aboriginal-Woman 1-1616A 001.jpg, ''Head of an Aboriginal woman'' (1899); The subject's name is Sarah File:Oscar-Fristrom-Duramboi full resolution.jpg, ''Duramboi'' (1893), a portrait of James Davis File:Mount Morgan by Oscar Fristrom.jpg, ''Mount Morgan'' (1896) File:Portrait of Kerwalli by Oscar Fristrom 1889.jpg, 1899 portrait of

Kerwalli Kerwalli (nicknamed King Sandy; – May 1900) was an Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal Australian foreman, fishmonger and headman of the Jagera people. He was a prominent member of Queensland's Aboriginal community in the 19th century. He is no ...

File:Coontajandra by Fristrom.jpg, ''Coontajandra'' (1901) File:Bust of Augustus Charles Gregory sculpted by Oscar Fristrom in 1905.jpg, Bust of

sculpted in 1905

History

Family

Notable works

References

Further reading