Egron Sellif Lundgren

Studies of Goats and Sheep, Cairo (c. 1871)

c.1871

Egron Sellif Lundgren (1815–1875) was a Swedish artist renowned for his mastery of watercolor. Initially trained as an engineer, he turned to art and studied in Stockholm before refining his skills in Paris under the academic painter Léon Cogniet, even honing his craft by copying Old Masters at the Louvre. In the 1840s Lundgren lived in Italy and Spain, painting historical and folkloric scenes and increasingly embracing watercolor as his primary medium. He mingled with fellow artists – notably the British painter John Phillip in Seville – and through their influence came to appreciate the expressive possibilities of the “light, fleeting” watercolour over traditional oil painting. Abandoning grand historical canvases, he turned to intimate genre scenes of everyday life – bustling markets, festive celebrations, and local people in vibrant costume – rendered with meticulous detail and a brilliant palette. Lundgren’s international outlook soon brought him into the artistic circles of Victorian England. He settled in London by the mid-1850s and earned the patronage of Queen Victoria, who commissioned him to depict court ceremonies and theatre performances. His watercolor illustrations of these events appeared in the Illustrated London News, and he exhibited at the Royal Academy. In 1865 he was elected to the Royal Watercolour Society – a rare honor for a foreign artist – confirming his stature among Britain’s leading watercolorists. The defining venture of his career came during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, when Lundgren traveled with British forces under Sir Colin Campbell to document the conflict. Over a year in India he produced some 500 sketches and watercolors on the spot, capturing dramatic battle scenes and vivid glimpses of Indian life. These works, praised for their immediacy and richness of color, were later exhibited to great acclaim and acquired by prominent collectors, cementing his reputation as a painter-reporter of extraordinary insight. Restless and curious, Lundgren continued to seek new horizons throughout the 1860s. He journeyed to Egypt – painting Cairo’s streets and desert landscapes alongside noted Orientalist artists like Frank Dillon and George Price Boyce – and traveled across Europe, even as he made Stockholm his home again in 1867. In recognition of his artistic contributions, he was knighted by the Swedish crown in 1861. A cosmopolitan figure, Lundgren helped pave the way for a Swedish watercolor renaissance in the next generation, influencing younger artists such as Anders Zorn and Carl Larsson. By the time of his death in 1875, he had become a revered figure in Scandinavian art. The Royal Academy in Sweden later honored his legacy by establishing an “Egron Lundgren Medal” for excellence in watercolor. Today his works reside in major museums such as Stockholm’s Nationalmuseum, and he is remembered as a pioneer who elevated watercolor to new heights, marrying academic skill with a wanderer’s eye for the world’s beauty.