WAUSAU, WISCONSIN: The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum announced Swedish artist Gunnar Tryggmo as its 2024 Master Wildlife Artist. He will be honored during the 49th annual Birds in Art exhibition this fall. Tryggmo, the 41st Master Artist, will receive the Master Wildlife Artist Medal during the Birds in Art Opening Weekend, September 7 and 8.
“I have the biggest smile, my wildest dream as a wildlife artist came through,” said Tryggmo when he received the news. “I am so grateful to the Woodson Art Museum. When I look at the lineup of previous Masters, I feel very honored. To be included in this prestigious group of artists is beyond compare the biggest milestone in my career.”
The inspiration for Tryggmo’s captivating artworks comes from an interest in wildlife and its natural environment, that he developed during his childhood in Sweden. Diverse landscapes, from coastlines to dense forests, appear in his work in watercolor, oil, and drawings. Sweden has a rich tradition of watercolor, and Tryggmo is highly revered for his paintings using the medium. Traditional watercolor presents challenges because of its transparency and unpredictable nature. Tryggmo’s skill and commitment to painting in this medium is impressive and appreciated by viewers.
“Gunnar Tryggmo’s artwork has been long admired by Woodson Art Museum visitors and his peers in Birds in Art,” said Museum director Matt Foss. “Since his first inclusion in the exhibition in 2010, Gunnar’s work evolved, seemingly getting stronger each year while maintaining the delicate nature of his subjects, which always seem at peace with their surroundings in nature. Beyond that, Gunnar is a gentle and unassuming person, whose character has been as impressive as his artistic output. The Museum looks forward to celebrating Gunnar and his work this September during the Birds in Art opening weekend.”
The 2024 Birds in Art exhibition, on view Saturday, September 7 through Sunday December 1, will feature a selection of Tryggmo’s artwork along with more than 100 original paintings, sculptures, and graphics created within the last three years by artists from throughout the world. The exhibition’s full-color catalogue, featuring an essay about the 2024 Master Wildlife Artist, will be available for purchase in September at the Woodson Art Museum.
