Online Artist Archive

Gullickson, Gustav I.
b. April 19, 1855, d. February 15, 1941
Discipline: Painting

Born in Skien, Norway on April 19, 1855, Gustav I. Gullickson studied at some of the most prestigious art schools in Europe. These included the Norske Male Skole in Oslo and the Royal Academy in Copenhagen.

In 1881, he made his first trip to the United States where he settled in Chicago and made art for the Pullman Company. After two-and-a-half years, he returned to Norway where he lived for the next twenty years.

In 1903, he returned to the United States, settled in Milwaukee, and made frequent trips to Grand Forks, North Dakota. He moved there permanently in 1918 and remained there until his death on February 15, 1941.

A widely-known painter in his time, Gullickson had mastered several types of painting including still-lifes, landscapes, illustrations, and scenes of Norse mythology. He was best known, however, for his portraits of some of the most notable historic figures of his lifetime: U.S. President William H. Taft, President William McKinley, famed North Dakota pilot Carl Ben Eielson, and Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, to name a few. His portrait of President Franklin D. Roosevelt hangs in the State Capitol in Bismarck and a replica of his painting Declaration of Independence, which was given to the state of North Dakota, once hung in the State Senate chambers.

He was survived upon his death by his wife Annette and five children from a previous marriage. (He was widowed.)

- Ben Nemenoff

Bibliography:

Barr, Paul E. North Dakota Artists. Grand Forks: University of North Dakota Library, 1954.

“Copy of Historic Painting is Gift to State.” Fargo Forum, September 20, 1936.

“G.I. Gullickson, 86, Noted Artist Here, Dies.” Grand Forks Herald, February 16, 1941.

*Photos courtesy of Denise L'Allier-Pray, denise.lallier-pray@carestreamhealth.com

Gullickson images