Schneidau, Christian Von (Oil)

(1893 – 1976)

Born in Smoland, Sweden on March 24, 1893 of noble birth, Von Schneidau received his early education from private tutors and studied at the Stockholm Academy of Fine Art. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1906 and spent the first ten years as a resident of Minnesota. He continued his art studies at the Art Institute of Chicago under Wellington J. Reynolds and Karl Buehr, and in the East under H. M. Walcott, C. W. Hawthorne, and Richard Miller.

After settling in Los Angeles in 1917, he operated the Von Schneidau School of Fine Art. Married twice, he was the husband of musician Esther Bergman during 1923-31 and in 1938 he married one of his pupils, Signe Larson Nelson. During the 1940s he taught at the Businessmen's Art Institute in Los Angeles and in the 1950s spent two years in Alaska. While there, he painted the Eskimos and portraits of governors Heinzelman and Egan. In his later years he taught portraiture at the Bakersfield Art Association.

Known primarily as a portraitist, Von Schneidau was equally skilled at landscapes and murals. He died in Orange, CA on Jan. 6, 1976.

Member: LA AA; Beachcombers Club (Provincetown); Laguna Beach AA; Scandinavian-American Art Society (pres. 1938-46). Exh: AIC, 1915 (1st prize), 1916; Minnesota State Fair, 1916 (2nd prize); Swedish Art Club (Chicago), 1917 (1st prize), 1920 (2nd prize); Calif. Art Club, 1918-38; Calif. State, Fair, 1919, 1920 (medals), 1925 (1st prize); Painters & Sculptors of LA, 1920-52; Exposition Park, 1921; Kanst Gallery (LA), 1921; Ebell Club (LA), 1921, 1940; Athletic Club (LA), 1922 (solo); Southwest Museum (LA), 1922 (1st prize); Calif. WC Society, 1923-30; LA Co. Fair, 1924-25; Friday Morning Club (LA), 1929; Academy of Western Painters, 1937; Scandinavian-American Art Society of the West, 1939; GGIE, 1939; LACMA, 1939; SWA, 1947. In: Gardena (CA) High School; Forum Motion Picture House, Southwest Baptist Church, Lutheran Hospital, all in LA; Fleischer Museum (Scottsdale); Swedish Club (Chicago).

Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940"
Southern California Artists (Nancy Moure); City Directory; American Art Annual 1917-33; California Arts and Architecture list, 1932;
California Impressionism (Wm. Gerdts & Will South); Who's Who in American Art 1936-76; Who's Who in California 1942; Who's Who on the Pacific Coast 1949; The Californians magazine, October 1988.

As printed in the Archives of AskArt

Work Available For Sale

Seabirds in a Cove

$1,275.00