J. A. G. Acke

J.A.G. Acke
Born Johan Axel Gustaf Acke
(1859-05-07)May 7, 1859
Bergielund in Stockholm
Died September 5, 1924(1924-09-05) (aged 65)
Vaxholm
Nationality Swedish
Known for oil painting
Movement Önningeby colony
Spouse(s) Eva Topelius

Johan Axel Gustaf Acke, originally Andersson (April 7, 1859 – September 5, 1924), was a Swedish painter, draftsman and sculptor.

Early life

Acke was born on April 7, 1859 in Bergielund in Stockholm, Sweden.

Career

In the 1890s, Acke worked on the restoration of medieval wall paintings in Uppsala cathedral. He worked for several years on a large painting, Snöljus, which represented ice fishing on Åland. Acke hoped that his painting would be sent to the Salon in Paris, but that was refused. After that, Acke and his family visited Åland.

They lived at times in Finland and at times in Sweden during the early years of their marriage and participated in the Finnish art world. They spent much of that time living with Acke's father-in-law, partly for economic reasons. After Zacharias Topeliusvägen's death in 1898, they became increasingly involved in Sweden and the Swedish art world.

Vaxholm

His adopted son, Fausto

In 1901, the couple moved to Vaxholm, Acke's home "Villa Columbines". The marriage remained childless until 1903. During a trip to Italy in 1900-01, they met an Italian family who had a three-year-old son named Fausto Alessio; he was adopted by the couple in 1903. In Sweden, the couple spent time with other artists including Carl and Karin Larsson and Richard Lindstrom. Another acquaintance was Verner von Heidenstamsgatan, who sat for an Acke painted. Between 1902 and 1903 Acke, along with Finnish artists and his father, Zacharias Topeliusvägen, illustrated storybooks for children. He took the name Acke in 1904 and also worked under the pseudonym I and I Acke.

In 1912, Acke made an extended trip to Rio de Janeiro, which affected his paintings, especially his way of depicting light.

Acke's last major work was the frescoes of the Stockholm City Hall. While working on Sweden's vision for the National Museum, he died suddenly in Vaxholm on September 5, 1924.

Style

In Önningeby, Acke developed an impressionistic plain air style. Later his works came to have elements of expressionism, symbolism and art nouveau; e.g., Night dew and sun rays in 1895, and the Forest Temple from 1901. After 1904 and Brazil, his work was linked to outdoor vitalism and its depictions of the naked human body, the sea and sunlight, as in Morning Air 1911. After the trip to Brazil, his paintings became more impressionistic and sketchy in the handling of color and light in the Avenida Rio de Janeiro from 1912.

Acke painted portraits of the Bonnier family and also designed furniture in the Art Nouveau style at the Bonnier family villa. He partly worked as a sculptor. In the book Unlikely Stories (1919), he tells humorous stories about whims and antics.

Selected paintings

References

    Sources

    • Konttinen, Riitta (1991) Konstnärspar Schildts, Helsingfors. Sid. 111-126. ISBN 951-50-0543-4
    • Kjell Ekström och Håkan Skogsjö (2003). Konst på Åland: en guide. Mariehamn: Skogsjömedia. Sid. 30-37. ISBN 951-98576-7-2.
    • Nationalencyklopedin band 1 A-ASA, (1993). Bra böcker, Höganäs. ISBN 91-7024-619-X
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