Albert Engström

Biography

Albert Engström's formative years were spent at Uppsala University, where he pursued his studies in Latin and Ancient Greek. During the 1890s, he studied at Valand Art School and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts' etching school. His career commenced in the tabloid press, where he had the opportunity to publish cartoons featuring Kolingen and Bobban in Söndags-Nisse. Subsequently, he embarked on the creation of his own magazine, Strix. In 1922, he was elected to the Swedish Academy, and in 1925, he was appointed professor of drawing at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Engström's dual roles as both an artist and a writer are well-documented, yet he is most recognized for his contributions as a black-and-white caricaturist. His style appears to have been influenced by artists such as Steinlen, Jean-Louis Forain, and the German satirical magazine Simplicissimus. A recurrent theme is humor pertaining to macabre subjects, as well as jokes about priests, the bourgeoisie, and officials. The Thiel collection contains 65 of Engström's drawings.