Nicolai Ulfsten (Nielsen) (born 1854 in Bergen, died 1885 in Kristiania) was a Norwegian painter. He studied in Karlsruhe from 1875 to 1877 where he was taught by Hans Gude. He praised Ulfsten as one of his most talented students ever. Gude convinced Nicolai that he had to change his surname from Nielsen to Ulfsten.

ight after graduation, Ulfstein traveled to Lister to paint. The pictures he painted there made him known as landscape painters. The following year in 1878 he traveled to Jæren for the first time. This resulted in a variety of paintings, from fairly large paintings to smaller sketches. Typical motifs for Ulfsten were the beach with drawn boats and fishermen, fishermen at work, and inland motifs.
In comparison to his c...