Andrew Severin Gunderson was born
June 16,1888 in Wallingford, Iowa and died September 4,1964 in Monee, Illinois where he lived and worked most of his adult life.He is buried in St Paul’s cemetery. He had minimal formal schooling and was completely self-taught in art.
He was a professional artist in Chicago at age 15, and had his own studio at age 18.
He also had an art store in Chicago
(the A. Gunderson Art Company).In 1915 he moved to Monee, Illinois and set up a studio in his home, which still stands as is adjacent to the new roundabout.He worked predominantly is pastels, as he felt oils took too long to dry.
For many years he sold his pastels through Vilas-Mages catalogues and at
Marshall Field’s in Chicago. Most of his pastels are landscapes and were drawn from his imagination. There is almost always water in his images along with trees, often white birch trees.In addition, his pastels often had a log cabin or Indian tepee in the scene.
He retired in the late 1950s, although he never stopped completely.He intentionally priced his artwork low as he felt that everyone needed beauty in their lives.
