Image 1

Olof Krans

oil on canvas

Bishop Hill Museum and State Historic Site

Image 2

Olof Krans

untitled (Forest Fire, Train), circa 1885

oil on canvas

Gift of General and Mrs. Sherman Hasbrouck 1991.6

Image 3

Olaf Krans

The Stormy Sea and Rowboat, circa 1900

oil on canvas

Gift of Mrs. Sherman V. Hasbrouck 1988.1

Image 4

Olaf Krans

Red Oak at Autumn, circa 1900

oil on canvas

Gift of Mrs. Sherman V. Hasbrouck 1986.16

Image 5

Olof Krans

Peter Krans, circa 1900

oil on canvas

Gift of Mrs. Sherman V. Hasbrouck 1990.8

Olof Krans (Image 1) was born into a family of Lutheran dissenters who emigrated from Sweden to western Illinois in 1850, to join the utopian religious colony of Swedish evangelist Erik Jansson. The transatlantic journey took three months. Once in New York the family traveled along the Hudson River and the Great Lakes to Chicago, where the travelers either boarded wagons or walked the last one hundred miles to Bishop Hill. Krans and his family arrived there in December.

The communal colony thrived for about ten years. Krans spent his teenage years working in blacksmith and paint shops. From 1861 to 1862, he fought for the Union in the Civil War. After the war, Krans worked many odd jobs in Bishop Hill, Galesburg and Galva until finding success as a house painter and interior decorator in Galva.

Krans began to create easel paintings as early as 1875, commemorating the Janssonist colony at Bishop Hill. He relied on photographs and his memory to paint more than 80 portraits of the early colony leaders to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Bishop Hill Colony. Krans had no technical training and painted people as he saw or remembered them. His fondness for storytelling is apparent in his narrative paintings, especially those such as Untitled, (Forest Fire, Train) (Image 2) and The Stormy Sea and Rowboat (Image 3).

(Image 4) Red Oak at Autumn depicts an actual location west of Bishop Hill called Red Oak Grove. The area served as a burial spot for early settlers of the Bishop Hill colony.

(Image 5) Peter Krans was Olof’s brother, who lived from 1840 to 1912. Krans tended to emphasize unique facial features in his portraits, often to the sitter’s displeasure.

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