Rushing River
Elmer S. Berge (1892-1956)
American
Signed
Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30 inches
$ 4,550
(prices subject to change)
Elmer S. Berge was born July 6, 1892 on Finnoy Island, Norway, a large island near Stavanger. He came to America around 1911. He became a U.S. citizen, and lived in the Chicago and Minneapolis areas. He started his art work at age 8 in Norway, and after emigrating to America, he attended art schools in the Chicago area.
His oil paintings of Minnesota landscapes and water scenes brought him fame in American art circles. He belonged to the American Swedish Institute and the Minneapolis Institute of Fine Arts. During a visit to the Tri-Cities in 1949, he made many friends in the allied Art Association in Richland, MN.
The following note is from: Daniel Nordquist
“He is rumored to have painted in the Arrowhead (Duluth) region of Minnesota, and may have been acquainted with Roy Keister, another painter with Minnesota connections originally from the Chicago area who ended up making his reputation in the Southwest US. Berge is also rumored to have painted in the Fergus Falls, MN area (Western Minnesota) where there is a broad band of hardwood forest. Many of the paintings of his I've seen are winter landscapes with "red" or "burr" oaks in them, which retain their leaves in the wintertime.”
Roar Pettersen, great nephew of the artist who lives in Norway, wrote in March 2004. that Berge "was a good friend with the Indians.” I have a picture of him in complete Sioux dress on a post-card he sent to his brother Ordin T. Berge, who also lived for sometime in the United States. The post-card is dated with the stamp 02/08/1929.
The following is a poem by the artist and words from his 1956 obituary.
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YOUTH.
Oft I meet you in life's morning,
Like a little rose in bloom,
While the summer sun was glowing
Fading out life's distant gloom.
Shall you always happy wander
With a smile to everyone,
To the mystic land just yonder
Where eternal flowers bloom?
May your heart be filled with gladness,
Sing your song of youthful praise,
Soon may life be changed to sadness
At the partings of the ways.
--Elmer Berge, '21.
He died unexpectedly in Minneapolis on March 3, 1956.