Olle Hjortzberg (1872-1959)

Olle Hjortzberg was a Swedish artist, born in 1872 in Stockholm. Hjortzberg's artistic career was both long and multifaceted. After being educated in book illustration by Agi Lindegren as a teenager and working as an assistant in decorative painting for J. A. G. Acke, Hjortzberg participated in the decoration of Uppsala Cathedral. On his return from Uppsala in 1892, he was accepted as a student at the Academy of Fine Arts the same year. In 1898, Hjortzberg made the first of many study trips abroad. After visiting Paris and Rome, Hjortzberg continued in 1900 to Greece, Syria and Palestine. It was above all the impressions of these sun-drenched, brightly lit environments with all their shifting colours that Hjortzberg returned to again and again in his paintings. It was also as a decorative painter in the large format that Hjortzberg mainly worked, especially in the decoration of church interiors.

Among the artist's better-known works as a mural painter are the paintings in Engelbrektskyrkan, which were begun in 1913, and the murals in Linköping's Läroverk from 1916. Both decorative works exhibit the elements of expanding, Art Nouveau-style floral ornamentation typical of Hjortzberg.

Hjortzberg is today represented in several of the country's largest museums, and his floral motifs are highly appreciated and much requested.