Lars Fletre
Lars Fletre (June 22, 1904 – September 1977) was a prominent Norwegian-American sculptor.
Biography
Lars Olavson Fletre was born in Vossestrand, Voss, Hordaland, Norway. He was the son of Ola Oddson Fletre and Kristine Olsdatter ytre Kvårmo.[1]
Lars Fletre immigrated to Chicago in 1923 and attended the technical night school at the Chicago Art Institute. He returned to Norway to marry Helen Svensson Fletre whom he met in Chicago. At one time, he worked at the Hadeland Glassverk factory in Jevnaker. He and his family returned to the United States in 1954, where he resided in Chicago.[2]
Both Lars Fletre and Helen Svensson Fletre were prominent members of the Chicago Norwegian colony from 1954 when he and his wife settled there with their 3 children in Logan Square.[3]
One of his more prominent works was a monument sculpted from granite for the fallen soldiers from the Fjord Regiment, which included soldiers from Voss, Sogn, Hardanger, Sunnfjord and Nordfjord. This memorial was unveiled at Bømoen, in Voss on August 1, 1948. Some of Fletre's other work includes restored buildings in Florence, Italy as well as work on the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Additional he worked on churches and missions in Las Cruces, New Mexico and El Paso, Texas.[4]
Selected works
References
- ↑ Lars Fletre (Store norske leksikon)
- ↑ The Artist Lars Fletre (Vossingen Final Issue. May, 1950. Madison Wisconsin. page 31)
- ↑ From the Archives (Forrest Brown. Norwegian-American Historical Association. Volume 33: Page 341)
- ↑ Trinidad woodcarver creates circus wagon for promotion of Raton (The Raton Range. April 25, 2006)
Other sources
- Haugan, Reidar Rye Prominent Artists and Exhibits of Their Work in Chicago (Chicago Norske Klub. Nordmanns-Forbundet, 24: 371—374,Volume 7, 1933)
External links
- Lars Fletre mention in Voss genealogy (PDF)
- Vesterheim - Location of his donated works to the Norwegian-American community