Nils Kreuger

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Nils Edvard Kreuger (11 October 1858 – 11 May 1930) was a Swedish painter known for landscapes and rural scenes. He was born in Kalmar, Sweden, where his father ran a lumber business. He started studying at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts in 1874 but had to stop because of illness. In 1878 he resumed at Edvard Perséus’s private painting school, then moved to Paris in 1881 to study with Jean-Paul Laurens at the Académie Colarossi. He spent much time painting outdoors in Grez-sur-Loing.

Kreuger liked painting at dawn or dusk, often in hazy or rainy weather. He first exhibited at the Salon in 1882. After 1885 he supported Opponenterna, critics who opposed old teaching methods at the Royal Academy, and helped form the Artists’ Union. He later shifted toward Romantic nationalism and stopped painting outdoors.

In 1886 he married Bertha Elisabeth von Essen and settled in Bourg-la-Reine. In 1887 he returned to Sweden, choosing Varberg as a base and helping establish the Varberg School with Richard Bergh and Karl Nordström. This group reacted against strict realism and was influenced by Gauguin and Van Gogh (Vincent van Gogh’s work was shown in Copenhagen in 1893).

In 1896 Kreuger moved to Stockholm, painting cows and horses on summers spent on Öland. After 1900 his palette lightened and he started adding dots to his paintings. He also did illustrations, designed furniture, and made humorous works called historiska baksidor (showing famous rulers from behind). Between 1904 and 1905 he painted large wall murals at Engelbrektskolan.

In later years he had eyesight problems but kept painting. His works are in the Nationalmuseum, Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde, the Thiel Gallery, and the Gothenburg Museum of Art. He was cousin to industrialist Ivar Kreuger.