A Multifaceted Life and Artistic Journey
Tyra Kleen was a Swedish painter, lithographer, writer, and ethnographical researcher. Born in Stockholm, Sweden, she studied painting in Karlsruhe between 1892 and 1893, at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich in 1894, and later at several academies in Paris, including Académie Julian and Académie Colarossi, between 1895 and 1897. Her artistic work focused primarily on drawing, etching, and lithography. She held her first exhibition in Paris in 1896 and made her debut in illustration in 1897.
Her travels took her to many locations, including Rome, Berlin, Paris, London, St. Petersburg, the Caribbean, the United States, India, Ceylon, Java, and Bali. In 1919, she traveled to Java and Bali on a Swedish cargo ship. During her time in Java and Bali, she conducted anthropological studies and worked on projects regarding ritual dances and the mudras, or ritual hand poses, of Balinese Hindu priests.
Ethnographic Research and Publications
Kleen's work as a researcher led to several significant publications involving her drawings and texts. Her ethnographic studies included:
In 1938, she was awarded the Johan August Wahlberg silver medal for her contributions to anthropological and geographical science. Her collections are held by the Swedish House of Nobility, the Gothenburg Museum of Art, the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, and the Swedish National Museums of World Culture.
