Tore Asplund (American, 1903 – 1978)
City Scene
Oil on canvas board
16 H. x 20 W. inches
Signed Lower Right: Tore Asplund
Provenance:
Janet Marqusee Fine Arts, New York, circa 1990
Private Collection, Atlanta GA
Estate of the above
Tore Asplund was born on July 16th, 1903, in Stockholm Sweden. When Asplund was a year old, his parents moved to the United States and Asplund was raised in New York City. Here he attended school at the Art Students League, the Academy School, and the Grand Central Art school. He is known for his work mostly done in water color, sometimes oil paint, of mainly landscapes and portraits.
During World War II, Asplund served as a soldier and a combat artist in the coast guard. He painted the landing of Omaha Beach on D-Day from sketches done during the event. After the war, Asplund was able to travel the U.S., Canada, and Europe, seen in watercolors he made during this time.
From 1938 to 1939, Asplund was featured in an exhibition by the American Watercolor Society. Around the same time, in 1938, he was also in an exhibition by the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. In 1953 Asplund obtained the Academy prize for watercolor, and he has been recognized in other places such as The Salmagundi Club, the Baltimore Watercolor club, and the American Watercolor society.
From 1960 to 1963 and 1965 to 1968, Asplund was on the Academy council. In addition from 1959 to 1962 and 1993 to 1965, he was a member of the school faculty at the Academy. He was also a member of the National Academy of Design, Allied Artists, the Salmagundi Club, Audubon Artists, and the American Watercolor Society.
Other places that Asplund’s work has been in are: the Asheville Art Museum, Huntington Hartford Museum, Ford Foundation Building in New York, Combat Art Collection of the U.S. Navy in Washington, D.C., National Press Club Washington D.C., and more.
Tragically, after a battle with alcohol abuse disorder, Asplund died by suicide at the age of 74. On December 31st 1977 in Miami, Florida.