ARTIST: Charles Edward Halberg (Illinois, Swedish, 1855 - 1940)
TITLE: Seascape with Sailboats
MEDIUM: oil on canvas
CONDITION: One patch repair with corresponding inpainting. Some craquelure. Wear to frame.
ART SIZE: 15 x 24 inches / 38 x 60 cm
FRAME SIZE: 19 x 27 inches / 48 x 68 cm
SIGNATURE: lower right
CATEGORY: old antique vintage painting for auction sale online
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SKU#: 124963
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BIOGRAPHY:
Charles Edward Hallberg was born in Goteborg, Sweden on January 15, 1855. His father died not long after leaving the family almost penniless. Charles had to take a hand early in the support of himself, his mother and sister, leaving little time for attending school.When he was twelve years old, Hallberg saw several watercolor paintings in the home of a playmate. These paintings attracted him so that he begged for the loan of crayons that he might copy them. From that time on Hallberg was passionately fond of sketching and painting, although it took many years before he could devote serious study to the effort.At the age of seventeen, Hallberg went to sea on board a British brig; for the next ten years he served before the mast under various flags. In 1883 he landed in this country and for the next seven years he sailed on the Great Lakes. He always carried palette and supplies with him on shipboard. In his spare time he made rude sketches of the sea as he experienced it in both calm and storm.In 1890 Hallberg settled in Chicago and he was employed as a janitor in an apartment building on LaSalle Street. Eighteen months later he accepted the position of janitor of the Austin State Bank and an adjoining apartment building. When he was not stoking the furnaces or sweeping floors, Hallberg could be found in a small room in the basement, lit by means of a transom, where he practiced his art.Having seen a mention of Hallberg in a local newspaper in which the artist had received encouragement from two prominent artists, Alexander Harrison and Anders Zorn, William French, the director of the Art Institute, asked Hallberg to bring in one of his paintings.Hallberg's greatest triumph as an artist was to have his Summer Day on Lake Michigan accepted by the national art jury of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition or St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. Only nineteen Chicago artists were represented there and Lindin and Hallberg were the only Swedish-Americans whose works were hung in the general art hall. Shortly thereafter, Hallberg visited Sweden and he was cordially received in his native city of Goteborg where several of his paintings were exhibited. The modest artist was met with appreciation on the part of artists, citizens and the press.In his life Hallberg painted only marines. Except for an occasional fishing smack or schooner, he painted nothing else.