Hjortzberg, Olle

Olle Hjortzberg (1872-1959) grew up in Linköping before moving to Stockholm in 1886 and a few years later started as an apprentice to his brother-in-law, the illustrator Agi Lindegren. In 1892-1893, Olle Hjortzberg participated in the embellishment and decoration of Uppsala Cathedral. He studied at the Royal Academy of Arts before scholarship funds made a multi-year study trip through France, Italy, Greece and Palestine possible. After his return to Sweden in 1905, many assignments in church painting and building decoration followed. Among other things, 28 paintings in Klara church, the Dramatens restaurant, the City Hall and the Technical University in Stockholm. Olle Hjortzberg was also a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts and as a graphic artist he designed many stamps and, among other things, the poster for the Olympic Summer Games in Stockholm in 1912. Olle Hjortzberg liked to combine traditional elements and stylistic features in a contemporary design language. Preferably in a monumel speech and somewhat strict stylization with clear inspiration from Assyrian art and symbolism. Olle Hjortzberg is represented at, among others, the National Museum, the Modern Museum and the Norrköping Art Museum.