BORN: March 21, 1825 Linderås, Småland, Sweden

DIED: October 16, 1890 Chicago

MARRIED:

TRAINING

1839-1844 Eksjö, Sweden, apprenticed to an artistii

ART RELATED EMPLOYMENT

Mural and fresco painter in Russia, Finland, four years

1852-1855; 1855iii-1890 Almini & Company; Jevne & Almini, mural and fresco painting;iv Crosby Opera House one of their commissions

1866 Founder, Svenska Amerikanaren, illustrated weekly

1864v-1871 Partner, Jevne [Otto] & Almini, art dealers,vi publishers, 1868-1871, Chicago Illustratedvii

TEACHING

RESIDENCES

1825-1852 Sweden

1852-1890 Chicago

TRAVEL

MEMBERSHIPS/OFFICES

Chicago Academy of Design; Master Painters and Decorators’ Association of Chicago (vice-president); National Association of Painters and Decorators (treasurer); Svea Society, Chicago (founding member 1857)

HONORS

SELECTED JURIES SERVED

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

ONE, TWO OR THREE MAN EXHIBITIONS

PERMANENT COLLECTIONS

INTERESTING NOTES

In the 1850s, Almini joined with Otto Jevne to found Jevne and Almini which emerged as one of Chicago’s main fresco and decorating companies. At its height after the great fire, the firm employed as many as thirty artists, mostly Scandinavians. Almini regaled his friends with the story of his youth. He explained his grandfather was a distinguished Italian fresco artist who moved to Sweden to work in the royal palace in Stockholm. Then Almini revealed he too worked in the Royal palace. The story is a fabrication. Almini’s name was actually Peter Magnus Nilsson. The son of a poor farmer, he received limited education. Nevertheless, in Chicago, “Almini” built a thriving business and became a respected leader of the Swedish community.viii The myth of his origins is perpetuated today event though in 1971, a Swedish scholar had clarified the matter. He was a dedicated student of art history and admired for his “exquisite taste.”ix “Almini” is buried in Graceland cemetery.

i“Peter M. Almini,” History of the Swedes of Illinois, (Chicago: Engberg-Homberg Publishing, 1908), p.845. See also: C. M. Jevne, “Jevne and Almini, Chicago,” Typescript, Chicago Historical Society, 1928.

iiobit, The Inland Architect and News Record, vol. 16, December 1890, p.80.

iiiOdd S. Lovoll, A Century of Urban Life, (Norwegian-American Historical Association, 1988), p.80.

ivOne of his projects in Milwaukee is detailed in “Art Matters,” Chicago Tribune, 10/13/1878, p.11.

vLovoll, p.82.

vi“The New Art Gallery,” Chicago Tribune, 12/12/1865, p.4.

viiThey published high quality prints of Chicago scenes.

viiiUlf Beijbom, Swedes In Chicago, (Växjäo, Sweden: Davidsons Boktryckeri, 1971), pp. 178, 284.

ixAdolph B. Benson and Naboth Hedin, Swedes in America, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1938), pp. 493-494.