Of Swedish descent, Olsson (1864 - 1942) was portrayed by contemporary reviewers as a latter-day Viking, roaming abroad on the briny-deep with paintbrush and easel, capturing images of the sea in all of its many moods. He was indeed an accomplished yachtsman who knew “the coast from the Scillies to the Isle of Wight as well as most men know their way to the nearest Railway station.” There was one time of day, however, which Olsson was felt to have made peculiarly his own: “It is that tender half-time between day and night, when the moon, as yet but a pale disc, peeps over the distant horizon and lays a ribbon of golden sheen across the pale waters.” A painting of this subject, Moonlit Shore, (London, Tate Britain) was acquired by the Chantrey Bequest from the Royal Academy in 1911, at the height of Olsson’s popularity.
[Oil on canvas, 61 x 76 cm]
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