Jenny Nyström – More than Tom's "Mom"

Two children throbbing in the snow, filled with Christmas presents. Children under the umbrella were a popular Christmas card motif, as illustrated by Jenny Nyström, but they could – without snow – also be used as an Easter card.

As an illustrator, Nyström was pragmatic, a necessity for a professional as committed as her. Between 1875 and 1945, she has illustrated more than 2,000 books, illustrations in 1,450 newspapers and 389 calendars, covers of 154 novels told to 25 eyes and painted at least 145 paintings in oil.

"She knew what she was selling.He was a true entrepreneur, a woman entrepreneur who owned the man outside of his financial sphere," says Elsebeth Welander-Berggren, who introduced the company to the company. exhibition on Jenny Nyström at the Sven-Harry Art Museum in Stockholm.

"She is unbeatable"

But did the high production rate and repetitive patterns mean that Jenny Nyström compromised quality? No, said Elsebeth Welander-Berggren.

"If you do not add them one by one, then she's very high quality as an illustrator, I think she's unbeatable – she's not a full-fledged artist, but she's an artistic illustrator.

The exhibition presents works that give a deeper insight into Jenny Nyström's work. Here are not only the illustrations of the plot that made her famous and appreciated by the general public, but also oil paintings and pastels from the time when she studied at the Royal Academy Stockholm and various art schools in Paris. On a self-portrait from 1884, Jenny Nyström made herself a confident professional woman, elegantly dressed in tight-fitting tailors – not with a brush in her hand, but rather as if she were heading to a major business meeting.

Must take care

Jenny Nyström knew very early that she had to fend for herself financially. The years of childhood in Kalmar had been happy, but the family did not have the money to pay for his trip to Paris or his future life. Target consciously, during the study period, she invested to win the Royal Medal guaranteeing a significant travel allowance. And when the choice was made for the last time between portrait painting and illustrations, she betrayed the kind that guaranteed the safest life.

Jenny Nyström became the first female artist in illustration in Sweden, paving the way for others to follow in her footsteps.

"I think it's been an inspiration to many after her, Elsa Beskow, for example," says Elsebeth Welander-Berggren.

Provide to the family

It's Jenny Nyström who has provided her family, her husband, Daniel Stoopendaal, who has never finished his medical studies, and his son, Curt, who has often figured as a motif in his illustrations. The fact that she knows her value and that she was a tough negotiator shows, among other things, an abandoned correspondence.

But when she died in 1946, her own professional title was not exposed to the announcement of death. There, the pioneer was presented, at her own request, under the name of Dr. Jenny Nyström-Stoopendaal.

The exhibition at the Sven-Harry Art Museum is presented from October 26 to February 17.

Facts: Jenny Nyström