David Wallin

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full nameDavid August•Wallin
Used nameDavid•Wallin
Born7 January 1876 in Östra Husby, Norrköping, Östergötland (SWE)
Died27 June 1957 in Stockholm, Stockholm (SWE)
NOC Sweden
Medals OG
Gold 1
Silver 0
Bronze 0
Total 1

Biography

David Wallin grew up in a strictly religious family and became a painting apprentice in Norrköping in order to become an artist. He later moved to Stockholm, where he attended the Academy of Art from 1898-1903. In 1905 Wallin married the painter and graphic artist Elin Lundberg (1884-1969) and together they went to Paris and London. After being awarded a travel grant he spent the years 1908-10 in Italy, then continued his studies in Paris, where he lived until 1913, before returning to Sweden.

Wallin was considered the most important Swedish romantic painter imagining the Swedish melancholy in his art. Critics consider his gold medal winning painting as a culmination of the Olympic Art Competitions. Following the success he was invited over to America to do a tour with a traveling exhibition. Wallin very often painted his family, wife and seven children. One of their daughters, Bianca (1909-2006), also became a well-known painter, while one of his sons, Sigurd (1916-99), was also an artist. David Wallin was also an accomplished portrait painter and did a series of portraits of famous Swedes including politician Carl Hammerskjöld (1865-1940).

The Swedish artists planned to exhibit their works in 1932 only “hors concours“. Through a misunderstanding, however, they officially competed. David Wallin, whose female figure in the center of the painting Vid Arilds strand (At the Seaside of Arild) is reminiscent of Botticelli’s Venus, even won gold. Arild is a fishing village and artists’ colony in the southern Swedish province of Skåne with steep cliffs. The square oil painting was auctioned in 2001 for (only) 36,000 Swedish crowns, at that time just under 4,000 euros.

Another work by Wallin, Vila efter badet (Repose After the Bath), is in the collections of the Östergötland Museum. Kvinna som går ner i badet (Woman Descending into Bath) or just Kvinna i badet is also an oil painting. It dates from 1929 and is only 36 x 29 cm in size. Två kvinnor på stranden (Two women on the beach) is called Sunbath in the catalog.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1932 Summer Olympics Art Competitions SWE David Wallin
Painting, Paintings, Open (Olympic) 1 Gold
Painting, Paintings, Open (Olympic) AC
Painting, Paintings, Open (Olympic) AC
Painting, Paintings, Open (Olympic) AC
Painting, Paintings, Open (Olympic) AC