Nils Johan Olsson Blommér (1816-1853) Sweden

Nils Johan Olsson Blommér started out as a painting apprentice. He enrolled at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts in 1839. Blommér traveled to Paris in 1847 and studied under Léon Cognite; he moved to Rome in 1850. Blommér was strongly influenced by Moritz von Schwind and he developed a new sphere of motifs based on Swedish legend and folklore. Blommér was also active in Konstnärsgillet, an artists’ association formed on New Year’s Eve, 1845, for “the country’s young artists, friends of art, and pursuers of the humanities”. Members of Konstnärsgillet took an interest in national folklore treasures and Old Norse history.