Olle Emanuel Nordmark[1] (May 25, 1890 – December 18, 1973) was a Swedish painter and muralist born in Nordanholen at Mockfjärd parish. He was focused on an art career from an early age. After emigrating in 1924 to the United States to gain more work opportunities, he lived there for 40 years. Living mostly in New York City, he produced numerous murals and frescos for private commissions. In 1964, he immigrated to France, where he lived until his death.
Biography
Nordmark started to draw and paint at an early age. His first teacher was his father, but in 1901 he met painter Gustaf Ankarcrona in Leksand, who taught him the basics. At the age of 15, Nordmark had decided that he was going to be an artist.[2] He continued his studies at Althin's School of Painting in Stockholm, where he trained in fresco painting.[3][4]
After his studies, Nordmark created murals and decorative paintings for private homes and churches in Sweden. While working, he became more interested in creating theatrical scenery. In 1917, he traveled to Moscow to study theatrical scenery. The next year, he returned to Stockholm, where he started to work with set designers and to create drawings for costumes. He worked for, among others, theatres such as Södra Teatern, Stora Teatern, the Folkan, the Oscars Teatern, and the Royal Swedish Opera.[2]
Nordmark lived and worked in Stockholm until 1924. Meanwhile, he became a well-known and respected designer of stage sets. His works were very imaginative, beautiful and colorful. Nordmark also worked with Karl Gerhard on sets for 22 productions. [citation needed]
During his time in Stockholm, he also worked as the head of Grabowska, a decorative painting workshop at Karlavägen. He arranged a number of displays in the news-office window of Svenska Dagbladet for clients such as Barnängen and Finbruken.[2]
Nordmark decorated several churches, such as Engelbrektskyrkan, Saltsjöbadskyrkan, churches in Borås and Karlskrona, and the wedding hall in Stockholm Court House. In 1924, Nordmark provided helped restore the church in Mockfjärd, contributing his work for free (pro bono) because of his love for his homestead.[5][6] The same year, he started to paint a portrait of Gädd Lars Holmberg, which he finished in the US. He donated the painting to the church in Mockfjärd.[2]
To acquire more knowledge within his field, he made several study trips on the European continent to nations including France, Germany, Italy, and Russia. In 1924, he immigrated to the United States to seek more work opportunities than Sweden could offer him. He lived there until 1964 when he moved to France.
In the United States, his work was noticed by leading Broadway theater directors, and he created some sets for productions.[2] Mostly he worked on private commissions for mural paintings in New York.[4] Known interior designs made by him are in the American Swedish Historical Museum and the John Ericsson Room in the John Morton Memorial Building in Philadelphia,[7][8] narthex ceiling of the First Swedish Baptist Church of New York[9] and the Swedish Room at the University of Pittsburgh.[7]
Nordmark also participated in several exhibitions, including one at the Brooklyn Museum in 1932[10] and another at the Delphic Studios in New York.[7] He wrote the books Modern Methods and Techniques for Painting in Fresco and Secco (1947) and Course in Beginning Oil Painting (1960).
Although it is not known when Nordmark started to teach, it is possible that he had a summer art school at his studio in Lomala, Hopewell Junction, New York, already in the early 1930s.[note 1] Among his first known students were Reginald Marsh and Elsa Jemne. In 1934, Marsh traveled to Lomala to learn the art of fresco painting from Nordmark, in anticipation of his commission to execute murals. He stayed for about six months with Nordmark studying fresco techniques.[12]: 23 Marsh returned to Lomala in July 1935 with George Biddle to get extra training right before their mural projects in the Post Office Department Building in Washington, D.C.[note 2]Jemne studied also fresco techniques with Nordmark at Lomala in preparation for future work in 1935.[15]: 114 [16]: 74
Biddle and Marsh employed Nordmark to superintend their mural projects in the Post Office Department Building.[17][18]: 79–86 Nordmark was involved with the project from around August 1935 to early 1936.[note 3] In order that Nordmark would truly be able to superintend the project, Biddle hoped to induce Edward Bruce to give Nordmark some sort of work in Washington, D.C. It is possible that Nordmark was employed by the Resettlement Administration around October 1935.[note 4] He served later as a technical consultant for the Section of Fine Art and supervised mural paintings made by Native American artists.[19]
Oscar Jacobson, director of University of Oklahoma art department and founder of the university's art museum, criticized Nordmark's teaching. Commissioner John Collier was forced to defend it. He replied that Nordmark taught only techniques and never dictated style, design or colors to his students. This was proved by the uniquely individualistic work of Standing Soldier, who was studying again with Nordmark at the Indian Art Center in circa 1938,[note 9] and of the Native Americans, who painted murals in the Department of the Interior Building.[26]: 85–86
Among Nordmark's other known students at the Indian Art Center were
Nordmark never forgot his native locality. He donated 58 drawings and sketches to the local history society, Mockfjärd Hembygdsförening, in 1958. These works are frequently exhibited.[37]
In 1964, Nordmark moved to Huningue, France, where he lived for the rest of his life. He is buried at a cemetery in Huningue.[1]
Personal life
In 1916, Nordmark got engaged to Ruth Granath,[38] the daughter of a wealthy furnisher from Västerås. Granath broke off the engagement, after she fell in love with a Dane on a vacation to Hornbæk in Denmark. Nordmark had not been able to join her on the vacation, as he could not take off from work. He later married a Finnish artist, Hilja Elonen (November 16, 1888—April 22, 1963).[39][40][41] After her death, Nordmark married a Swedish woman called Marie-Louise.[1]
Artistic style
Nordmark is known for his exquisitely beautiful colors, his original ideas and artistic taste. The lines and the colors in his theater decorations and costumes helped to create the most striking effects.[1]
Notes
^It is believed that Nordmark introduced his secco techniques into the United States in 1932.[11]: 14 Lomala appears in the references as Lomala House,[12]: 23 "Lomala" a house in Hopewell Junction[13] or just plain Lomala in letters[14] from Biddle and Nordmark to Marsh.
^Letters from Biddle dated June 17, 1935 and July 4, 1935.[14]
^Nordmark had a frequent mail correspondence with Marsh about the progress of the preparation of the walls for the mural paintings from around August 1935 to the end of January 1936.[14]
^Biddle wrote in a letter dated June 17, 1935 about his hopes to find Nordmark some kind of work in Washington, D.C. Nordmark told in a letter dated September 19, 1935 that he had applied for a job and would get to know the outcome in about one week. In a letter dated January 27, 1936 it is possible to read between the lines that Nordmark might be working for a governmental institution. Olin Dows again writes in a letter dated December 9, 1936 that Nordmark is still working for the Resettlement.[14] The Resettlement is assumed to be the Resettlement Administration.
^No records have been found if Nordmark was employed by Biddle and Poor for the Department of Justice Building project and by Marsh for the Custom House project or was he employed by the government for these projects.
^Standing Soldier did some experimental mural work at the Oglala Community High School under the direction of Indian Service advisers and the special summer school staff in art in 1937.[21]: 92 Other sources[22] tells that he was studying under Nordmark, a federal artist-in-residence, in Pine Ridge. Therefore it is likely that Nordmark worked as an artist-in-residence in Pine Ridge in 1937.
^According to some sources[2] Nordmark was employed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs from 1935 to 1943. This period might include also work done for other governmental institutions.
^In literature Indian Art Center and Fort Sill Indian School are used interchangeably. The program, called Indian Art Center, was not part of Fort Sill Indian School.[24]: 36 It was located at the United States Army base in Fort Sill, Oklahoma.[25]: 202
^Standing Soldier must have been studying with Nordmark between 1938 and 1940. He finished painting a mural at the new federal post office at Blackfoot, Idaho, in 1939,[26]: 85 therefore it is assumed that he must have been studying with Nordmark before that.
^Asah,[28]: 28 Auchiah[28]: 34 and Mopope[28]: 391 were studying with Nordmark in 1938. The source locates the students at Fort Sill Indian School instead of Indian Art Center.
^Houser studied with Nordmark either at Indian Art Center[29]: 181 [30]: 162 or Fort Sill Indian School[31]: 311 depending on source. Houser studied one year at Fort Sill Indian School in 1922,[32]: 7 which might also be one reason for the confusion.
^ abcdefMockfjärdsskolan (1974). Olle Nordmark 1890–1973: Minnesutställning i Mockfjärdsskolan 11/5–12/5 1974 [Compendium of Olle Nordmark 1890–1973: Memorial exhibition at the School of Mockfjärd May 11–12, 1974] (in Swedish).
^ abMarsh, Reginald; Greenberg Gallery (Saint Louis, Mo.); Hirschl & Adler Galleries (1985). Reginald Marsh, 1898–1954: paintings and works on paper: the Greenberg Gallery, 44 Maryland Plaza, St. Louis, Mo., January 18–March 1, 1986, Hirschl \& Adler Galleries, Inc., 21 East 70th St., New York, N.Y., March 13–April 19, 1986. Hirschl & Adler Galleries. ISBN978-0-915057-07-8.
^Hirschl & Adler Galleries (1980). American art from the Gallery's collection: exhibition October 4–25, 1980, Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York. Hirschl & Adler.
^ abMecklenburg, Virginia M. (1979). The public as patron: A History of the Treasury Department mural program, Illustrated with Paintings from the Collection of the University of Maryland Art Gallery. Department of Art, University of Maryland.
^ abNelson, Christine (1995). "Indian Art in Washington: Native American Murals in the Department of the Interior Building". American Indian Art Magazine. Vol. 20, no. 2. pp. 70–83.[verification needed]
^"Modern Fresco Technique", Arts, 22, Arts Digest: 27, 1947
^Clark, Ann Nolan (1954). The hen of Wahpeton: Unjincila Waȟpet'un etanhan kin he. The Branch of Education, The United States Bureau of Indian Affairs.
^Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center. "Andrew Standing Soldier". Chamberlain, South Dakota. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
^ abcdefghWyckoff, Lydia L., ed. (1996). Visions and voices: Native American painting from the Philbrook Museum of Art. Philbrook Museum of Art. ISBN978-0-86659-012-9.
^Look, David W.; Perrault, Carole L. (1986). The Interior Building: its architecture and its art. Preservation case studies. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Preservation Assistance Division. hdl:2027/mdp.39015029850214.
^Jones, Ruthe Blalock. "West, Walter Richard, Sr. (1912–1996)". Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Archived from the original on November 19, 2012. Retrieved April 13, 2012.