Bror Julius Olsson Nordfeldt

Bror Julius Olsson Nordfeldt
Born	March 13, 1878(1878-03-13) Tullstorp, Sweden
Died	April 21, 1955(1955-04-21) (aged 77) Henderson, Texas, United States
Cause of death	Heart attack
Education	Art Institute of Chicago

Father and Son. Black and white reproduction from 1921 exhibition catalog.

Bror Julius Olsson Nordfeldt (13 April 1878 – April 21, 1955) was a Swedish-born, American artist. He is particularly well known for his seascapes and depictions of New Mexico’s indigenous culture.^[1]

Background

He was born in Tullstorp, Malmö, Skåne County, Sweden the son of Nils and Ingrid (Nordfeldt) Olsson. The family immigrated to the United States in 1892. He first worked as a typesetter for the Swedish language newspaper, Det Rätta Hemlandet. He attended the Art Institute of Chicago and studied with Frederick Richardson. He later apprenticed with Albert Herter in New York City. He studied in Paris at the Académie Julian.^[2]

Career

During World War I he was in San Francisco where he registered for the draft. During the war, Nordfeldt was assigned to San Francisco to supervise the camouflage of merchant ships. After service in World War II, he moved to Taos, New Mexico. In 1921, Nordfeldt joined the Taos Society of Artists.^[3] In the late 1930s he relocated to Lambertville, New Jersey.^[4]

Throughout the 1930s, Nordfeldt taught at various schools including Utah State College, the Wichita Art Association and the Minneapolis School of Art. From 1941-43, he was a guest professor for the Department of Art of the University of Texas.^[5][6]

Nordfeldt worked in diverse styles and media, including etchings and prints, portraiture, still lifes, and landscapes. Nordfeldt strove for a flattening of form and distortion of space, creating stylized images. He chose subjects laden with emotional power, especially nature and religious scenes.^[7]

Nordfeldt exhibited in numerous museums and galleries and received many significant awards and prizes in the course of his career. His works are held in the Art Institute of Chicago, the New York Public Library, Museum of New Mexico, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Newberry Library, and the Hirshhorn Museum as well as many other venues. Biographical sketches for Nordfeld are published in most standard art reference works. His papers are held in the Manuscript Collections of the Archives of American Art. He died in Henderson, Texas on April 21, 1955.^[6]

Awards

• 1906 Silver Medal, International Print Exhibition, Milan, Italy
• 1915 Silver Medal, San Francisco Panama-Pacific Exposition
• 1926 Bronze Medal, Sesquicentennial Exposition, Philadelphia, PA
• 1926 Logan Medal, Art Institute of Chicago
• 1927 First Prize, Brooklyn Society of Etchers, Brooklyn, NY
• 1928 First Prize, Chicago Society of Etchers
• 1937 Yetter Prize for Painting, Denver Art Museum
• 1947 Purchase Prize for Painting, Worcester Art Museum
• 1949 Bronze Medal, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Notes

1. ^ B.J.O. Nordfeldt (James A. Michener Art Museum)
2. ^ Bror Julius Olsson Nordfeldt (Luther College Fine Arts Collection)
3. ^ Bror Julius Olsson Nordfeldt (Taos Artists)
4. ^ B.J.O. Norfeldt, James A. Michener Art Museum. Accessed June 26, 2011. "Born Bror Julius Olsson in Sweden, Nordfeldt lived in Chicago, New England, Santa Fe, and ultimately in Lambertville, New Jersey."
5. ^ "Bror Julias Olsson Nordfeldt". Karges Fine Arts. http://www.kargesfineart.com/bror-julias-olsson-norfeldt-biography.html. Retrieved 2008-07-11. 
6. ^ ^{a b} "B.J.O. Nordfeldt Dies". New York Times. April 22, 1955. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F1081EFA385E107B93C0AB178FD85F418585F9. Retrieved 2008-07-11. 
7. ^ B.J.O. Nordfeldt (Sullivan Goss)

References

• Haugan, Reidar Rye Prominent Artists and Exhibits of Their Work in Chicago (Chicago Norske Klub. Nordmanns-Forbundet, 24: 371—374,Volume 7, 1933)
• Coke, Van Deren Nordfeldt the Painter (Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 1972)
• Hunter, Sam. B.J.O. Nordfeldt: An American Expressionist (1984)
• Swanson, Mary T. The Immigrant Molds the Image: the Life of B.J.O. Nordfeldt (Swedish American Historical Quarterly. Vol. XLII pp. 69–89. April 1991)
• Crump, Robert L. Minnesota Prints and Printmakers, 1900-1945 (Minneapolis: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2009)

External links

• Media related to Bror Julius Olsson Nordfeldt at Wikimedia Commons
• Swedish-American Works from the Hillstrom Collection

Persondata
Name	Nordfeldt, Bror Julias Olsson
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1878-03-13
Place of birth	Tullstorp, Sweden
Date of death	1955-04-21
Place of death	Henderson, Texas