Allan Österlind

Erik Allan August Österlind (2 November 1855, Stockholm – 23 June 1938, Juvisy-sur-Orge) was a Swedish painter and engraver who spent most of his life in France.^[1]

Biography

He was born to a family of the Swedish nobility and his father was a wholesale merchant. From 1874 to 1875, he studied at the

Prince Eugen

.

In 1878, he enrolled at the

Creuse

, which became one of his favorite places.

In 1884 he, Josephson and Richard Bergh held a joint showing in Stockholm and, two years later, in Gothenburg. The following year, he became a signatory to an anti-Academy manifesto issued by a group known as the "Opponenterna". Despite opposition from King Oscar II, he and other Swedish expatriates participated in the Exposition Universelle (1889), and he was awarded a silver medal.^[2]

That same year, he married Joséphine Eugénie Carré (1862-1916), thereby legitimizing their two children, Anna Alina (born 1882) and Anders, who would also become a painter. As a result, he remained in France for the rest of his life, although he never gave up his connections to Sweden and maintained a regular correspondence with Prince Eugen..

In 1890, he ceased participating in showings at the regular salons and became a member of the

Société nationale des beaux-arts, which began having annual exhibitions that year. Three years later, possibly at the urging of Josephson, he travelled throughout Andalusia, making sketches that would later become watercolors. In 1894, he was named a Chevalier in the Legion of Honour.^{[citation needed]} In 1900, he founded an association of watercolorists and began creating aquatints

.

The start of World War I and the death of his wife two years later left him in a state of depression and he spent more time travelling. He also began a curious collection of portrait paintings of the inhabitants of the Île-de-Bréhat, done on glasses and plates, at a local cabaret called the "Café des Pêcheurs". Apparently, unable to pay his bill, he had painted a portrait of himself as compensation. Several artists followed suit and the Café became known as the "Cabaret des Décapités". Some of them may still be seen at the Verrerie.^[3]

He died in poverty in 1938. His works may be seen at the

Musée des beaux-arts de Reims and several others in France and Sweden.^[4]^[5]