Gustaf Fjaestad

Gustav Fjæstad was a very versatile artist and as a painter, he is best known for his winter landscapes. In addition to his easel painting, he designed furniture and patterns for textile works, which were later woven into tapestries by his sisters. Among those who particularly appreciated Fjæstad's craftsmanship was the banker and art patron Ernest Thiel. He commissioned an entire furniture group and several tapestries for his private villa on Djurgården in Stockholm, today known as the Thiel Gallery, where they are still on display.
Fjæstad also had some experience of public commissions, having assisted Bruno Liljefors in his youth with the large diorama in the Biological Museum in Stockholm.
During the 1890s, Fjæstad belonged to the swedish artists' association called “Konstnärsförbundet” and was happy to participate in their exhibitions. His contributions were usually characterized by the national romantic ideals of the time: highly stylized winter landscapes depicted in atmospheric twilight light. After Fjæstad's permanent move to Värmland, where he became the leading figure in the artists' colony at Lake Racken, his opportunities for involvement in the association were limited, but he encouraged his fellow colony members, including Björn Ahlgrensson, Bror Lindh and Fritz Lindström, to enroll in the Konstnärsförbund school. Maja Hallén, his wife, had also been a student at the school for some time.