Malm, GN (1869-1928)untitled 3 tall pines, 1922 watercolor

Malm, GN (1869-1928)untitled 3 tall pines, 1922 watercolor
GN Malm, (1869-1926) untitled 3 tall pines, 1922 watercolor, signed lower right, good condition, size 17.5 x 12 inches. Gustaf Nathaniel Malm, known to many as G.N. Malm, was born in Svartorps Parish, Jönköping, Sweden, on January 20, 1869. He was the son of the Rev. and Mrs. P.A. Malm. As a young boy he showed promising talent. Malm enrolled at the college in Jönköping, but inadequate financial support made it necessary for him to discontinue his formal schooling. Young Malm then took up the trade of a painter. In 1893 he traveled to the United States and settled at Omaha, Nebraska. In January of the same year he married Matilda Wredberg and the following year, the young couple moved to Lindsborg.In Lindsborg, Malm became known as an artist, author, and businessman, and was a key figure in promoting art and the Bethany College oratorio tradition. He was a fine painter and a famous author in Swedish American circles. His volumes, Charlie Johnson and Härute, are classics in Swedish American literature. He came to Lindsborg at the request of Dr. Carl A. Swenson, president of Bethany College in 1894 and soon identified himself fully with the college and the community.Malm was secretary of the oratorio society as well as historian. He wrote extensively for newspapers and periodicals about music and art activities. Carl G. Lotave, Birger Sandzen and G. N .Malm were the founders of the annual Easter art exhibition, which today is known as The Midwest Art Exhibition held at the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery. The three young men first organized the exhibition in 1899 in conjunction with the events and activities of the Messiah at the College.He also won distinction for his painting craft, especially through various designs and stencils, which he developed along with Oscar Gunnarson, another local Lindsborg craftsman and artist.G.N. Malm painted several church altar paintings. Salemsborg Church, Bethany Lutheran Church and the Methodist Church in Lindsborg all have an altar painting by the artist. In 1913 he became associated with the Acme Paint Company in Kansas City, but still maintained his Lindsborg residence.A small man physically, he had great visions for Lindsborg and Bethany College and was an untiring worker in behalf of values that would distinguish the community as a center of culture. His untimely death in 1928, following an illness of a few months, was a great loss to the college and community.
Condition: good
Dimensions: 24.75 x 19 x 1.25 in
Weight: 4.8 lb