Ernest Fredericks (American 1877-1958)
Directory: Fine Art: Paintings: Oil: N. America: American: Pre 1920: Item # 1233879
Please refer to our stock # 10472 when inquiring.
Winter Landscape
Oil-on-canvas, signed lower right
Painting Size: 21” x 24.75”
Frame Size: 28 ” x 31.75”
Frederick Ernest Swedlun was born in McPherson, Kansas of Swedish parents. Wishing to escape farmlife, he moved to Chicago and began studies at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. In an attempt to minimize the anti-immigrant prejudice against Swedes, he began using the pseudonym “Ernest Fredericks”. Following his studies at the Academy, Swedlun exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago and in the All-Illinois art shows. He was also a member of the Chicago Society of Artists.
In 1950, Swedlun and his family moved to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, where he found endless inspiration in the beauty of the Ozarks. There, he began signing with his real name, Fred Swedlun. With his son, Glenn, he painted and taught art in the Ozarks.
This winter landscape, since it is signed with “Ernest Fredericks,” probably predates 1950 when he began to change his signature.
Swedlun’s works are held in the collections of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, the State of Illinois permanent art collection, and the Eureka Springs Historical Museum.
Sources:
Craig, Susan V. Biographical Dictionary of Kansas Artists (Active before 1945). 2009.
Falk, Peter, ed. Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975
Teeter, Thomas A. Frederick Ernest Swedlun (1877-1959) The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture. 19 December 2013