Nils Saebjørn Buttedahl

Buttedahl, Saebjørn (1876-1960)
"Lauritz Swenson "
Sculpture,1926
LFAC #797

Biography

Nils Saebjørn Buttedahl was born November 10, 1876 in Norway. He debuted as an actor in Norway in 1896. From 1902-1924 he was employed in the Central Theatre in Oslo but continued simultaneously producing art as a sculptor. He created a number of busts of people active in the theatre. Several of these are located at the National Theatre in Oslo and in theatre museums in Oslo and Copenhagen. He emigrated to the United States in 1926, settling in California, where he died in San Diego, July 10, 1960. In California, he was active in the theatre but also continued sculpting, especially creating busts of people involved in the film industry. He was married to the Danish actress Clare Petrea Margrethe Benelli (1871-1933).

The sculpture by Buttedahl in the Fine Arts Collection is a painted plaster cast of Lauritz Swenson, created in 1926. The Norwegian-American Museum owns the bronze version of the bust which is said to have been modeled from life. The figure is in contemporary dress, ending abruptly below the jacket lapel with no additional base. It has been placed on the Inventory of American Sculpture at the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

The subject of the sculpture, Lauritz Swenson, ’86, was a member of the Luther College Board of Trustees, 1920-1922, and U.S. Minister to Denmark, Switzerland, Norway and the Netherlands. Born in 1865 in Norseland, MN, he was educated at Luther College and Johns Hopkins University. Serving as principal for the Luther Academy at Albert Lea, MN, until 1897, Swenson served most of the rest of his life in diplomatic posts. In the interim between postings, Swenson was active in the banking business in Minneapolis. He died in Norway on November 4, 1947. Swenson was instrumental in acquiring the 5,000 volume library of Bishop A.C. Bang (1840-1913), in 1913 for the Luther College Library.

Ref: Norsk Kunstner Leksikon, Oslo, Norway: Universitetsforlaget, 1982. Translation by Jane Kemp and Bill Musser.

Updated 01/14/2009