Oil on cardboard, signed lower right “G. Kallstenius”.
Dimensions with frame: 33x54 cm (20x41 cm)
Gottfrid Kallstenius (Västervik 1861–1943 Nacka) was a Swedish painter. After completing preparatory studies under Edvard Perséus, he was admitted to the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts in 1884 and graduated in 1888, receiving two medals for his work. In 1891, he married the painter Gerda Roosval. Shortly thereafter, he received a scholarship, and they spent the summer in Paris, where he completed his education. From there, they moved to Le Pouldu in Brittany. After about a year, they returned to Paris. They eventually settled in the Swedish artists’ colony in Grez-sur-Loing. In 1893 and 1894, they visited Italy. From 1898 to 1904, he taught decorative arts. In 1910, after an unsuccessful attempt to secure a professorship in landscape painting, he became a tenured teacher. In 1912, he was appointed vice-rector. During this period, he abandoned his earlier realistic style. He created several large-scale works, including an altarpiece in Västervik, murals in the Nordstjernan building, and mosaics at Konstnärshuset. Later, he painted a large landscape for the foyer of the Royal Dramatic Theater. He also wrote several texts on oil painting, including *Oljemåleriet, färgstoff och bindämnen* (Oil Painting, Pigments, and Binders, 1913), *Handbok i oljemålning* (A Handbook of Oil Painting, 1915), and *Konsten, dess väsen och betydelse* (Art: Its Essence and Significance, 1931). He spent most of his later life with his wife Gerda in the villa they had built in 1906 according to a design by architect Gustaf Petterson (1887–1925). Their son, Evald Kallstenius (1898–1957), was also a painter.
