Emil Biorn

Last updated

Emil Biorn (June 7, 1864 – 1935) was a Norwegian-born, American sculptor, painter and composer. [1]

Contents

Background

Emil Bjørn was born in Christiania, Norway. He was trained at both the Royal Norwegian School of Drawing and at Lindeman's School of Music in Oslo. Biorn studied art in Paris and as well as at the Chicago Art Institute.

Oslo Place in Østlandet, Norway

Oslo is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. Founded in the year 1040 as Ánslo, and established as a kaupstad or trading place in 1048 by Harald Hardrada, the city was elevated to a bishopric in 1070 and a capital under Haakon V of Norway around 1300. Personal unions with Denmark from 1397 to 1523 and again from 1536 to 1814 reduced its influence, and with Sweden from 1814 to 1905 it functioned as a co-official capital. After being destroyed by a fire in 1624, during the reign of King Christian IV, a new city was built closer to Akershus Fortress and named Christiania in the king's honour. It was established as a municipality (formannskapsdistrikt) on 1 January 1838. The city's name was spelled Kristiania between 1877 and 1897 by state and municipal authorities. In 1925 the city was renamed Oslo.

The Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry was established in 1818.

Ludvig Mathias Lindeman Norwegian composer and organist

Ludvig Mathias Lindeman was a Norwegian composer and organist. He is most noted for compiling Norwegian folk music in his work Ældre og nyere norske Fjeldmelodier.

Career

In 1887, Biorn came to America where he was employed as a commercial artist by the Barnes-Crosby Company, an engraving firm in Chicago. From 1906 to 1914, Biorn was principal conductor of the Norwegian Singers’ Society of America. In 1914, he conducted that chorus during their trip to Norway to help celebrate the centennial of the Constitution of Norway. [2]

Norway constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe

Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northwestern Europe whose territory comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula; the remote island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard are also part of the Kingdom of Norway. The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land.

The Constitution of Norway was first adopted on 16 May and subsequently signed and dated on 17 May 1814 by the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll. It was at the time considered to be one of the most liberal or radically democratic constitutions in the world, and it is today the second oldest single-document national constitution in Europe after the Constitution of Poland and second oldest in the world still in continuous force after the United States Constitution, as the Polish 3 May Constitution survived for less than 2 years. 17 May is the National Day of Norway.

Biorn was both a sculptor and painter, as well as an illustrator and caricaturist. His works were featured at the Minnesota State Fair in 1925 and at the Art Institute of Chicago between 1900 and 1912. His paintings and drawings decorated many Norwegian-American institutions in Chicago including the Norwegian Singing Society (Normaendenes Sangforening), Chicago Norske Klub, and the Norwegian Children’s Home. There is a collection of his art works in the Fine Art Collection at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. [3] [4]

Minnesota State Fair state fair of the U.S. state of Minnesota

The Minnesota State Fair is the state fair of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Its slogan is "The Great Minnesota Get-Together." It is the largest state fair in the United States by average daily attendance. It is also the second-largest state fair in the United States by total attendance, trailing only the State Fair of Texas, which generally runs twice as long as the Minnesota State Fair. The state fairgrounds, adjoining the Saint Paul campus of the University of Minnesota, are in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, midway between the state's capital city of St. Paul and its largest city, Minneapolis, near the Como Park and Saint Anthony Park neighborhoods of Saint Paul. Residents of the state and region come to the fair to be entertained, exhibit their best livestock, show off their abilities in a variety of fields including art and cooking, learn about new products and services, and eat many different types of food—often on a stick. The fair runs for twelve days from late August into early September, ending on Labor Day. The Minnesota State Fair was named the best state fair in the United States in 2015 by readers of USA Today.

Art Institute of Chicago art museum and school in Chicago

The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879 and located in Chicago's Grant Park, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 million guests annually. Its collection, stewarded by 11 curatorial departments, is encyclopedic, and includes iconic works such as Georges Seurat's A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, Pablo Picasso's The Old Guitarist, Edward Hopper's Nighthawks, and Grant Wood's American Gothic. Its permanent collection of nearly 300,000 works of art is augmented by more than 30 special exhibitions mounted yearly that illuminate aspects of the collection and present cutting-edge curatorial and scientific research.

Chicago Norske Klub was a Chicago, Illinois based Norwegian-American cultural and social organization.

Related Research Articles

Jonas Lie (painter) Norwegian-born American painter

Jonas Lie was a Norwegian-born American painter. He is best known for colorful paintings of coastlines of New England and city scenes of New York City.

Carl Ludwig Boeckmann was a Norwegian-American artist best known as a portrait painter.

Norwegian National Academy of Fine Arts art school in Oslo

The Norwegian National Academy of Arts is a Norwegian Academy offering studies in the area of Fine Art. The Academy currently offers 3-year bachelor and 2-year MA programmes. The "Norwegian National Academy of the Arts" is still referred to simply as Kunstakademiet or the Art Academy amongst both Staff and students.

Norwegian art

For much of its history Norwegian art is usually considered as part of the wider Nordic art of Scandinavia. It has, especially since about 1100, been strongly influenced by wider trends in European art. After World War II, the influence of the United States strengthened substantially. Due to generous art subsidies, contemporary Norwegian art has a high production per capita.

Knud Bergslien Norwegian painter

Knud Larsen Bergslien was a Norwegian painter, art teacher and master artist. In his art, he frequently portrayed the lives of the Norwegian people, their history and heroes of the past. Bergslien is most associated with his historical paintings, especially Skiing Birchlegs Crossing the Mountain with the Royal Child.

Herbjørn Nilson Gaustå also Herbjorn Gausta was an American artist who is best known for his landscapes, portraits, and scenes from rural settings. He left an early record of immigrant life in his portraits and paintings and helped establish a place for art in the culture of Norwegian-Americans.

Events in the year 1864 in Norway.

Paul Fjelde was a noted American sculptor and educator.

Sigvald Asbjørnsen was a Norwegian-born American sculptor.

Arvid Nyholm Swedish artist

Arvid Frederick Nyholm was a Swedish-American artist, known primarily as a portrait and landscape painter.

Svend Rasmussen Svendsen was a Norwegian American impressionist artist. Svendsen is most known for his rural scenes, marine views, and snowy landscapes of Norway.

Yngvar Sonnichsen was a Norwegian born, American artist and painter known especially for his portraits, landscapes and murals.

Alexander Grinager was an American artist most noted for his murals and scenic painting.

Karl Ouren was an American artist best known for his paintings of Norwegian landscapes and scenes, particularly those featuring winter and snow.

Benjamin Blessum American painter

Benjamin Blessum was an American painter, graphic artist and illustrator. He was primarily known for his Norwegian landscapes.

Norse-American Centennial

The Norse-American Centennial celebration was held at the Minnesota State Fair on June 6–9, 1925.

Carl Newland Werntz was an American painter, fine arts photographer, illustrator, cartoonist and educator who founded the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. Werntz was a world traveler who was a proponent of Asian art and Japonisme. Through his own sketching and photographic expeditions to the American Southwest and his influence, he played an important role in the development of painting in the Southwest region in the early 20th century.

Marie Løkke also Marie Loekke, Marie Mathiesen was a Norwegian born artist. She is most associated with her impressionist landscapes in oil.

The following is a list of notable events and releases of the year 1935 in Norwegian music.

References

  1. 15 paintings by Emil Biorn (Smithsonian Institution Collections Search Center)
  2. Emil Biorn. 1864 - 1935 (AskART and Artists' Bluebook)
  3. Norwegian Clubs in Chicago (Birger Osland. Norwegian-American Historical Association. Volume XII: Page 105)
  4. Norwegian-American Artists (The Luther College Fine Arts Collection)

Other sources

Odd Sverre Lovoll is an American author, historian and educator.