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Grafstrom, Olaf

Last Name: Grafstrom
First Name: Olaf
Dates:
*1855 (Date of Birth)
*1933 (Date of Death)
Biography/History: Jonas Olaf Grafstrom was born on June 11, 1855 in Attmar Parish, Medelpad, Sweden into a well-to-do Swedish farming family whose name had long been associated with scholars and civil servants. In 1882, he completed his study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm where he was regarded as one of the most promising students. In 1886, he decided to immigrate to the United States and to seek his fortune as an artist in the Pacific Northwest. In 1890, he moved from Portland to Spokane Falls, in what had just become the State of Washington. Spokane, at this time, was under reconstruction after a great fire, which lent to itself to a vigorous economy. In 1891, Grafstrom left Spokane for San Francisco. He traveled around the United States until 1926, when he returned to Attmar, Sweden to stay until he died in 1933.
Related Objects:
1588.2 (Painting, Nymphs and Satyr, ca. 1890)