Oscar Emil Törnå (18 October 1842 - 3 June 1894) was a Swedish landscape painter, illustrator and graphic artist.

Biography

Törnå was born at Kättilstads Parish in

Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...

, Sweden. Of French ancestry, he was the son of Gudmund Teurneau, a tailor, and Anna Maja Persdotter. He began receiving an education in the trades when he was fourteen, but eventually displayed an aptitude for art. Thanks to the support of some well-to-do neighbors, he was able to enroll at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts and participated in the Academy's exhibition of 1868. He was awarded a medal in 1870 for one of his first landscape paintings. Impatient to receive a travel scholarship, he took off on his own in 1873 and went to

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

, but was not pleased with their teaching methods and later felt that he had wasted his time there. Finally, in 1874, he obtained a trave scholarship and went to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

via

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. His feelings about his studies in Germany were confirmed when he visited the

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

and was exposed to the more Naturalistic styles prevalent there. During his first summer in France, he lived in Montigny-sur-Loing and Marlotte, painting forest and river scenes. In 1877, he exhibited two landscape paintings at the Salon and they received praise from the critic, Louis Edmond Duranty. One was purchased by Adolphe Goupil. He made further painting trips to Marlotte, Nemours and Grez, but his showing at the 1878 Salon was not as successful. Upon returning to Sweden, he immediately organized an exhibition. This time, he made an impression, as most Swedish landscape painters were still making sketches outdoors and completing their paintings in their studios, rather than working en plein aire. Several of his works were purchased by the Royal Academy to be used for study material in their landscape classes. The

Stockholm archipelago The Stockholm Archipelago () is the largest archipelago in Sweden, and the second-largest archipelago in the Baltic Sea (the largest being the Archipelago Sea across the Baltic in Finland). Part of the archipelago has been designated as a Rams ...

Södermanland Södermanland ( ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latinisation of names, Latinized form Sudermannia or Sudermania, is a Provinces of Sweden, historical province (or ) on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Österg� ...

and Östergötland were his favorite places to paint. In 1885, he joined a group known as the Opponents ('' Opponenterna'') which was protesting what they felt were the outmoded methods of teaching at the Royal Academy. However, after participating in one of their exhibitions, he left the group because he felt it was counterproductive. By the late 1880s, a combination of ill-health and resistance to new methods or styles eventually reduced the quality of his workmanship. He died at

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

during 1894 and was buried at Solna Church. Small selections of his work may be seen at the

Göteborgs konstmuseum Gothenburg Museum of Art () is located at Götaplatsen in Gothenburg, Sweden. It claims to be the third-largest art museum in Sweden by the size of its collection. Collections The museum holds the world's finest collection of late 19th-cen ...

,Göteborgs konstmuseum
/ref> Nationalmuseum and the Nordiska museet.

References

External links

More works by Törnå
@ ArtNet

from the ''

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'' @

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Torna, Oscar 1842 births 1894 deaths Swedish painters Swedish landscape painters People from Kinda Municipality

Biography

References

Further reading

External links