Active in New Orleans in the late 19th century, Bror Wikstrom was one of the founders of the Artists' Association of New Orleans. As a young boy, he went to sea and reportedly became a captain. Due to near-sightedness, he ceased being a marine officer and studied at the Royal Academy of Stockholm, and then became a magazine illustrator.

His career moved to fine art when, in 1881, he illustrated a story on life at sea and decided to draw scenes about voyages between Holland and New York City. This exposure to America led him to decide to stay in the United States and pursue a painting and illustration career. He was in Florida for a year and then went to New Orleans where cartoons by him appeared on the magazine covers of Mascot in 1883, and Figaro in January 1884.

A year later, Wikstrom became involved with New Orleans carnival pageants, and he worked into being "the city's most noted carvival designer during the 1880s and 18890s, especially for the Rex and Proteus organizations". He also contributed etchings to journals and did portrait painting as well as historical and genre subjects and Louisiana landscapes.

Many of his marine paintings were done on his annual return trips to Sweden or other parts of Europe and the Caribbean.

He died in New York City on April 27, 1909 while working on a parade design for a Hudson-Fulton celebration.

Source:
John Mahe, Rosanne McCaffrey, Encyclopedia of New Orleans Artists, 1718-1918

BROR ANDERS WIKSTROM (1854-1909)

After spending nearly a decade as a sailor on open waters, the Swedish immigrant-artist Bror Anders Wikstrom discovered New Orleans in 1883. Captivated by the city’s charm and limitless subject matter, he made it his home for the rest of his life. He became an active presence in the local art scene and was one of the founders of the Artists’ Association of New Orleans, an influential circle that promoted regional art through exhibitions and education around the turn of the century. He taught sketching at the association’s school without pay, regularly participated in its exhibitions, served on juries, and became the organization’s president in 1892; he was also the driving force and benefactor of the association’s short-lived literary publication, Art and Letters.

Wikstrom was a versatile artist, having trained in the academic tradition at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm and in Paris. Over the course of his career, he worked as a magazine illustrator, executed portraits, painted historical and genre scenes, and recorded his impressions of the open sea and the picturesque Louisiana landscape. He exhibited locally and at the 1897 Tennessee Centennial Exposition in Nashville, as well as at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, commonly known as the World’s Fair.

Wikstrom’s greatest success, however, came as a designer of Carnival floats and costumes. Spanning a quarter century, his resplendent productions for the Rex and Proteus krewes were colorful and imaginative, their themes derived from exotic Middle Eastern literature such as The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and The Arabian Nights. These Mardi Gras commissions, which began in 1885 and continued until his death, brought Wikstrom substantial wealth. Financial freedom, in turn, allowed him to enjoy regular European travel—frequently returning to his native Sweden and to France—as well as trips to the Caribbean, Mexico, and in America.

Garden at the Sun (Spanish Colonial Garden) may be a Louisiana scene or perhaps a locale in Florida, a favorite vacation destination for Wikstrom, who spent a year there soon after he arrived in the United States. The canvas portrays a lush garden setting replete with potted flowers, vines, and trees that obscure low profile stucco buildings. Light dances across structures and vegetation alike to create an image of quiet tranquility.

The Johnson Collection, Spartanburg, South Carolina
thejohnsoncollection.org

Prior to settling in New Orleans by 1883, Bror A. Wikstrom trained at the Stockholm Royal Academy of Fine Arts in his native Sweden and with the artists Julien and Colarossi in Paris. Known for his marine and landscape paintings and etchings, Wikstrom also designed the pageantry sets for the carnival organizations of Proteus and Rex.

With a group of artists including Paul Poincy, Andres Molinary, and Achille Perelli, he was a founder of the Artists' Association of New Orleans in 1885, taught at its art school, and served as its president and on the board of directors. Wikstrom also published and largely financed the short-lived illustrated periodical Arts and Letters, which featured many writers of the day.

In addition to Mangrove Swamp, the Louisiana State Museum has many of Wikstrom's etchings and carnival sketches, his paint box and engraving tools, and a vintage photograph of the interior of his studio on Commercial Place in New Orleans. His work is also featured in Mardi Gras Treasures, by Henri Schindler.