Elisabeth Bergstrand-Poulsen

Born on 12 November 1887 in the village of Långasjö in south-eastern Sweden, Anna Elisabeth Albertina Bergstrand was the daughter of the schoolteacher and organist Per Magnus Bergstrand (1855–1927) and Anna Hammargren (1861–1946), a devout Christian. She was the second of six children. Brought up in a musical family, her father taught her school subjects and the piano. As the family could not afford to send her to high school, she helped in the home and read widely. She became a close friend of Gertrud Lilja, with whom she shared her interest in art and literature. After studying at the Kunsthögskolan in Stockholm (1909–1913), thanks to a Swedish grant she went on an extended study trip to France, Italy and Algeria (1913–1916). While in Rome, she met the sculptor Rikard Axel Poulsen (1887–1972) whom she married in November 1917 after returning to Denmark. They had two sons, Ivar (1918) and Hans (1920).

She first exhibited her child paintings in Copenhagen's Charlottenborg at the 1922 autumn exhibition, followed by interiors at the 1923 spring show. Her portraits and interiors were painted in the naturalistic style of the times. Her artwork extended to etchings, lithography and ceramics.[4] In 1926, her exhibition of some 60 illustrations depicting the people of Småland at the Gummeson Gallery in Stockholm met with enthusiastic acclaim. During the nine years following her marriage, together with her husband she applied her artistic talents to designing their home in Charlottenlund to the north of Copenhagen. Inspired by their common interest in Italy and the Renaissance, it was known as Klosteret (The Cloister) with its impressive church-like appearance. In her memoirs published in 1940, she explains the significance of the house in the following terms: We love our home, created with irrational materials for a house: longings and dreams, impressions from east and west, from sun and moon, i.e. from Italy, Greece, France and Denmark. It was built by man's faith and woman's weak power. And as an altar erected for all that is beautiful. In later life, she turned to religious works, especially tapestry, creating Kvinnans årstider (The Woman's Ages) which was woven in Barbro Nilsson's workshop in Stockholm and is now preserved in Småland's Museum.[5] In 1950, she created an altarpiece for Långasjö Church but it was not inaugurated until 1957, two years after her death.

Elisabeth Bergstrand-Poulsen was recorded at birth as Anna Albertina Elisabeth Bergstrand. Her recorded language was Swedish. She married Axel Poulsen. Recorded as writer, artist, painter, illustrator and printmaker.