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Olle Nordmark
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Olle Nordmark (May 21, 1890 – December 18, 1973), born Olof Emanuel Nordmark, was a Swedish painter, muralist, teacher, graphic designer, and illustrator.[1][2][3][4] Nordmark emigrated to the United States in 1924, and was later employed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to teach fresco painting to Native American artists.[5][6] In 1964, Nordmark immigrated to Huningue, France where he lived until his death in 1973.
Early life and education
[edit]Olof Emanuel Nordmark was born on May 21, 1890[a] in Nordanholen, Mockfjärd to Brita Olsdotter and Fredrik Wilhelm Nordmark, a postal worker.[1][7][8][9]
At the age of 15, Nordmark decided that he was going to be an artist.[10] Nordmark first studied art under his father before later studying under Gustaf Ankarcrona.[11] Nordmark later studied fresco painting at thr Althins målarskola in Stockholm.[12][13][11]
Following graduation, Nordmark created murals and decorative paintings for private homes and churches. During this period Nordmark became interested in creating theatrical scenery. Nordmark later studied theatrical painting and stage design in Moscow.[11]
Career
[edit]In 1918, 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.[10]
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.[10]
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.[14][15] 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.[10]
To acquire more knowledge within his field, he made several study trips on the European continent to nations including France, Germany, Italy, and Russia.
United States
[edit]
In 1924, he immigrated to the United States to seek more work opportunities than Sweden could offer him.
In the United States, his work was noticed by leading Broadway theater directors, and he created some sets for productions.[10] Mostly he worked on private commissions for mural paintings in New York.[13] 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,[16][17] narthex ceiling of the First Swedish Baptist Church of New York[18] and the Swedish Room at the University of Pittsburgh.[16]
Nordmark also participated in several exhibitions, including one at the Brooklyn Museum in 1932[19] and another at the Delphic Studios in New York.[16] 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.[21]: 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.[24]: 114 [25]: 74
Biddle and Marsh employed Nordmark to superintend their mural projects in the Post Office Department Building.[26][27]: 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.[28]
Biddle spent a summer studying fresco techniques with Nordmark, before he began his work in the Department of Justice Building in 1936.[25]: 17 Like a year before, Nordmark was hired to supervise the mural projects of Biddle and Henry Varnum Poor.[27]: 79–86 [29] In 1937, Nordmark joined Marsh in New York City for the Custom House murals. Marsh had insisted on using fresco for the murals, despite objections from higher-ups.[26][note 5] Nordmark worked also as a federal artist-in-residence in Pine Ridge Reservation in 1937, where Andrew Standing Soldier was studying under him.[note 6]
The Department of the Interiors's Bureau of Indian Affairs employed Nordmark to teach fresco painting to Native Americans from 1938 to 1943.[32][note 7] He was working at the Indian Art Center, a program for outstanding students and teachers, in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, from 1938 to 1940.[note 8] In 1940, instructors and students from Phoenix Indian School, Phoenix, Arizona, traveled to Fort Sill to study under Nordmark.[34]: 202 There is little known about the Indian Art Center. Some records of the program probably exist, but many may have been destroyed. According to Leonard Riddles, the students were taught tempera painting, oil painting, fresco and secco.[33]: 36
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.[35]: 85–86
Among Nordmark's other known students at the Indian Art Center were
- Spencer Asah, James Auchiah, Stephen Mopope and Leonard Riddles in 1938,[33]: 36 [36]: 264 [note 10]
- Archie Blackowl, Franklin Gritts, Cecil Murdock and Andrew Tsihnahjinnie in 1939,[33]: 36
- Allan Houser,[note 11] Oscar Howe[33]: 36 [34]: 157 and Victor Pepion[33]: 36 [36]: 264 in 1940.
Blackbear Bosin,[33]: 36 Woody Crumbo,[33]: 36 Charles Loloma,[35]: 104 [42] Fred Kabotie[35]: 104 and David E. Williams.[38]: 181 studied also with Nordmark at the Indian Art Center, but more detailed information about their years of attendance have not been found. Gerald Nailor, Sr. studied with Nordmark in 1940, but the location is uncertain. According to literature, he studied either privately in Oklahoma[43]: 175 or Fort Sill Indian School, Lawton, Oklahoma.[36]: 264 [40]: 311 Some sources[40]: 311 tells that Nailor enrolled with his close friend Houser for one year at the Fort Sill Indian School.
Nordmark was probably teaching at the Phoenix Indian School from 1941 to 1943. Among his students were Richard West from 1941 to 1942[42][44] and Patrick DesJarlait likely in 1942.[34]: 202 George Smith "Woogee" Watchetaker[45] and Herman Toppah[42] also studied with Nordmark, but the references do not give any further information about neither the location nor the year. Later, Jacobson and Nordmark mentored together some Philbrook artists including Crumbo, Albin Jake and Jesse Edwin Davis II.[38]: 181
Nordmark worked as advisor or supervisor for many mural painting projects. Some of the projects he supervised were made by
- Auchiah, Blackowl, Crumbo, Gritts, Mopope, Riddles at Fort Sill Indian School from 1939 to 1940,[36]: 265
- Auchiah, Crumbo, Herrera, Houser, Mopope, Nailor at Department of the Interior Building, Washington, D.C., from 1939 to 1940,[36]: 176
- Pepion at Museum of the Plains Indian, Browning, Montana in the summer of 1941.[28]: 47
In 1958, Nordmark donated 58 drawings and sketches to the local history society, Mockfjärd Hembygdsförening. These works are frequently exhibited.[46] 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.[3]
France
[edit]In 1964, Nordmark moved to Huningue, France, where he lived for the rest of his life.
Personal life
[edit]In 1916, Nordmark became engaged to Ruth Granath,[47] the daughter of a wealthy furnisher from Västerås. The engagement later ended.
On December 14, 1935 Nordmark married Hilja Maria Nordmark (née Wikstrom; November 16, 1888—April 22, 1963), a Finnish dressmaker.[7][48][49][50][51] Nordmark later married a Swedish woman called Marie-Louise.[3]
Nordmark died of natural causes on December 18, 1973 at his home in Huningue, France.[2] Nordmark is buried in Huningue.[2][3]
Notes
[edit]- ^ Also cited as the May 25, 1890
- ^ It is believed that Nordmark introduced his secco techniques into the United States in 1932.[20]: 14 Lomala appears in the references as Lomala House,[21]: 23 "Lomala" a house in Hopewell Junction[22] or just plain Lomala in letters[23] from Biddle and Nordmark to Marsh.
- ^ Letters from Biddle dated June 17, 1935 and July 4, 1935.[23]
- ^ 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.[23]
- ^ 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.[23] 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.[30]: 92 Other sources[31] 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[10] 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.[33]: 36 It was located at the United States Army base in Fort Sill, Oklahoma.[34]: 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,[35]: 85 therefore it is assumed that he must have been studying with Nordmark before that.
- ^ Asah,[37]: 28 Auchiah[37]: 34 and Mopope[37]: 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[38]: 181 [39]: 162 or Fort Sill Indian School[40]: 311 depending on source. Houser studied one year at Fort Sill Indian School in 1922,[41]: 7 which might also be one reason for the confusion.
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Olof Emanuel [Birth Index]". Swedish Church Records Archive; Kopparberg; Mockfjärd; 1890. 996. Johanneshov, Stockholm: Swedish Church Records Archive. 1890.
- ^ a b c "Olof Emanuel Nordmark". Reports of Deaths on American Citizens [Abroad] 1963–1974; Box 122: 1973, MU–PK. College Park, Maryland: National Archives at College Park. January 11, 1974.
- ^ a b c d Termén, Gerhard (2001). "Konstnären Olle Emanuel, kallad Emil, Nordmark, Mockfjärd". In Yvell, Erik (ed.). Nåssånär: smilfisar från Gagnef. Gagnef: Bokboden. ISBN 91-972576-3-X.
- ^ "Nordmark, Olof E. (American painter, graphic artist, and illustrator, born 1890)". Union List of Artists Online. Los Angeles, California: J. Paul Getty Trust. 2004. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
- ^ Fur, Gunlög (2019). "Negotiating Conflicting Cultures". Painting Culture, Painting Nature: Stephen Mopope, Oscar Jacobson, and the Development of Indian Art in Oklahoma. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 181–212. ISBN 9780806163468.
- ^ a b "Olof [Olle] Emanuel Nordmark". Dutchess County, New York, Naturalization Records, 1932–1989. 41 (4994). Poughkeepsie, New York: Dutchess County, New York. 1940.
- ^ "Fredrik Wilhelm Nordmark". Swedish Church Records Archive; Kopparberg; Mockfjärd; 1884–1893 (in Swedish). Johanneshov, Stockholm: Swedish Church Records Archive. 1884.
- ^ "Olof Emanuel". Swedish Church Records Archive; Kopparberg; Mockfjärd; 1884–1893 (in Swedish). Johanneshov, Stockholm: Swedish Church Records Archive. 1884.
- ^ a b c d e f Mockfjärdsskolan (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).
- ^ a b c Towley Swanson, Mary (2004). "APPENDIX C: Swedish–American Artists' Index". A Tangled Web: Swedish Immigrant Artists' Patronage Systems, 1880–1940. Saint Paul, Minnesota; Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of St. Thomas: 1–17. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
- ^ AskArt. "Biographical information of Olle Nordmark". The Artist Bluebook. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
- ^ a b "Swedish-American artists' index" Archived 2012-03-20 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "En märklig kyrkorestaurering" [A remarkable church restoration]. Dalpilen (in Swedish). No. 89. Falun. October 26, 1923. p. 1. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 6, 2012.
- ^ "Restaurering av Mockfjärds kyrka" [The restoration of the church in Mockfjärd]. Dalpilen (in Swedish). No. 28. Falun. April 8, 1924. p. 5.[dead link]
- ^ a b c Svarte Sören. "Mockfjärd — Historik". Archived from the original on March 17, 2012. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
- ^ "Day 265 - American Swedish Historical Museum" Nordic Way (retrieved 2012-03-31)
- ^ "Day 231 - The Swedish Church" Nordic Way (retrieved 2012-03-31)
- ^ Press release Brooklyn Museum, 1932-04-03
- ^ Burt, Sarah (2004). National Historic Landmark Nomination of Navajo Nation Council Chamber (PDF). U.S. Department of the Interiors, National Park Service.[dead link]
- ^ a b Marsh, 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. ISBN 978-0-915057-07-8.
- ^ Hirschl & Adler Galleries (1980). American art from the Gallery's collection: exhibition October 4–25, 1980, Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York. Hirschl & Adler.
- ^ a b c d Reginald Marsh papers (1897–1955). Correspondence: Treasury Department Art Projects, 1935–1938. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 2012-10-24. Retrieved 2012-05-24.
- ^ Crump, Robert L. (2009). Minnesota Prints and Printmakers, 1900–1945. Minnesota Historical Society Press. ISBN 978-0-87351-635-8.
- ^ a b Mecklenburg, 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.
- ^ a b Leavitt, Lisa (1995). "Reginald Marsh: The U.S. Custom House Murals: Reframed and Reseen". American Art Review. 7 (5): 122–127.
- ^ a b Nordmark, Olle (1947). Fresco Painting: Modern Methods and Techniques for Painting in Fresco and Secco. American Artists Group. ISBN 978-1-4437-2161-5.
{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) - ^ a b Nelson, 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.
- ^ Gilbert, Dorothy B., ed. (1959). Who's Who in American Art. New York: R. R. Bowker Company.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Wyckoff, Lydia L., ed. (1996). Visions and voices: Native American painting from the Philbrook Museum of Art. Philbrook Museum of Art. ISBN 978-0-86659-012-9.
- ^ a b c d Anthes, Bill (2006). Native Moderns: American Indian Painting, 1940–1960. Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-3866-6.
- ^ a b c d Benes, Rebecca C. (2004). Native American Picture Books of Change: The Art of Historical Children's Edition. Museum of New Mexico Press. ISBN 978-0-89013-471-9.
- ^ a b c d e McLerran, Jennifer (2009). A New Deal for Native Art: Indian Arts and Federal Policy, 1933–1943. University of Arizona Press. ISBN 978-0-8165-2766-3.
- ^ a b c Matuz, Roger (1997). Saint James guide to native North American artists. St James Press. ISBN 978-1-55862-221-0.
- ^ a b c Croteau, Susan Ann (2008). "But it doesn't look Indian": Objects, Archetypes and Objectified Others in Native American Art, Culture and Identity (Ph.D.). Los Angeles: University of California. ISBN 978-1-109-05816-1.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b c Leibowitz, Rachel (2008). Constructing the Navajo Capital: Landscape, Power, and Representation at Window Rock (Ph.D.). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
- ^ Pearlman, Barbara H. (1992). Allan Houser: (Ha-o-zous). Santa Fe: Glenn Green Galleries. ISBN 1-56098-102-4.
- ^ a b c Snodgrass, Jeanne O., ed. (1968). American Indian painters: a biographical directory. New York: Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation.
- ^ Park, Marlene; Markowitz, Gerald E. (1984). Democratic vistas: post offices and public art in the New Deal. Temple University Press.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Native Arts of America (2009). "Biography of George Smith "Woogie" Watchetaker". Archived from the original on March 27, 2013. Retrieved April 13, 2012.
- ^ "Olle Nordmarks verk ställdes ut" [Olle Nordmark's works were exhibited]. Dalarnas Tidningar (in Swedish). July 11, 2010.
- ^ "Förlovning" [Engagement]. Dalpilen (in Swedish). No. 48. Falun. June 20, 1916. p. 4. Archived from the original on March 9, 2014. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
- ^ "Hilja M Wikstrom and Olaf E Nordman [Marriage Index]". Index to Marriages, New York City Clerk's Office, New York, New York; Manhattan; 1935. 12. New York, New York: New York City Municipal Archives. 1935.
- ^ "Hilja M Nordmark". Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; New York; New York; New York; 31–1237. Washington, D.C.: National Archives. 1950.
- ^ "Mrs Hilja Nordmark [Burial Record]". Church Registers; New York, New York, USA; First Presbyterian Church. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Presbyterian Historical Society. 1963.
- ^ "Hilja Nordmark". Social Security Death Index, Master File. Woodlawn, Maryland: Social Security Administration. 1963.
External links
[edit]- Works by or about Olle Nordmark at the Internet Archive
- Photograph of Olle Nordmark
- Photograph of Olle Nordmark
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