Bror Anders Wikstrom (Swedish, 1840 to 1909; active New Orleans 1883 to 1909)
The Swedish born Wikstrom was a painter, etcher, designer, illustrator and art teacher. Wikstrom trained at the Stockholm Royal Academy of Fine Arts and later studied at the Academie Julian, Paris. He first came to New Orleans as an illustrator in 1881 and returned here at the time of the 1884-1885 World’s Industrial and Cotton Exposition. Known for his marine and landscape paintings, Wikstrom also was the city’s most noted designer of pageantry sets for the carnival organizations of Proteus and Rex. He actively supported New Orleans art organizations and along with artists Paul Poincy, Andres Molinary, and Achille Perelli, founded the Artists Association of New Orleans in 1885 and later served as its president. His mood-rich Southern landscapes have made Wikstrom one of the most esteemed Southern artists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Information courtesy of New Orleans Auction Galleries Inc., March 2008.
The sea was a constant source of fascination for the Swedish born artist Wikstrom. In his youth he worked as a cabin boy and eventually became a ship’s captain. When he began studying art, images of the sea and ships frequented his work. During his lifetime, his marine paintings were avidly collected and admired.
By 1883, Wikstrom had arrived in New Orleans and was working as an illustrator for local newspapers and journals. He was actively involved in the art community and was a founder of the Artists Association of New Orleans and the journal Art and Letters. Working initially with Charles Briton, Wikstrom became a celebrated carnival designer for the krewes of Rex and Proteus.
Information courtesy of Neal Auction Company, May 2008.