Olle Olsson-Hagalund (1904-1972) Sweden

Olle Olsson-Hagalund is a naive artist who, like many modernists, searched for authentic, genuine Swedish art. Naive artists aim to recreate a child’s untrained view of the surrounding world; hence the designation “naive”. Olsson’s home, the Hagalund neighborhood of Solna, was an important basis for his artistry, and he uses multiple motifs from the area. Many of his images portray detailed courses of events containing people and environments that prominently feature humor, imagination and a vivacious play of colors. Olsson started out at Carl Wilhelmson's Painting School in 1919, but first made his artistic debut at the age of 30. His major breakthrough came several years later with attention-garnering exhibitions at the gallery Färg och Form and the Swedish Academy of Fine Arts. Prior to his breakthrough, he occasionally supported himself as a theater decorator, but his dream of being an artist never faded. Other artists connected to naivism include Hilding Linnqvist, Eric Hallström and Henri Rousseau.