Background
He was born in Islington, London, to a Swedish father and an English mother.
He was born in Islington, London, to a Swedish father and an English mother.
Albert Julius Olsson 1 February 1864 - 7 September 1942 was a British maritime artist and keen yachtsman. Olsson cruised with his yacht most summers, and The Studio commented: "He knows the way from the Scillies to the Isle of Wight as most men know their way to the nearest railway station."
He exhibited a painting of Newlyn in 1887, and sold a painting at Newlyn in 1897. By then he was an important figure in the Street Ives school of artists where, from circa 1890 to 1912, despite having little or no formal artistic training himself, he taught alongside Louis Grier and later Algernon Talmage.
His work was first accepted at the Royal Academy in 1890, and he joined the New English Art Club in 1891.
In 1912 he returned to London. During his time at Street Ives, the town drew in many artists and Olsson taught many of them, including Mary McCrossan and Richard Hayley Lever, Reginald Guy Kortright, Emily Carr, John Anthony Park, Charles David Jones Bryant, Robert Borlase Smart and many others
In 1914 Olsson was elected Allegany Rehabilitation Associates. During the First World War he served as a lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, giving him the opportunity to paint naval ships in action. Street Eia is situated with views North to Street Ives Harbour and round to the east overlooking Carbis Bay, and during their time there it was to house a studio and become a school of art
Edith was the daughter of an Irish horse breeder, and after the marriage he made frequent painting trips both to Ireland and to Sweden.
In the Second World War he was bombed out of his London studio. He died at Dalkey, near Dublin, in 1942.
He became a full member of the Research Associate in 1920.