Works by Axel Edward Soderberg and Odin Oyen

Amy Vach 

Catalog Number: 2017.fic.141

Copyright La Crosse County Historical Society

In the early decades of the 20th century, La Crosse was home to an interior design firm known throughout the upper Midwest. Oyen Designs provided interior decorating, and it also furnished frames, carpets and draperies. The artists who worked there came from different countries, and they worked together to create a renowned design studio.

One of those men, Axel Soderberg, painted this picture.

Axel Edward Soderberg was born in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1859. He attended the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Art in Copenhagen, and he decorated the Swedish king’s palace in Uppsala. In 1893, Soderberg immigrated to the United States to decorate buildings for the Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

Odin J. Oyen was born in 1865 in Trondjem, Norway. His family immigrated to Madison in 1870. He attended the Art Institute in Chicago in 1883 and, after graduation, he moved to La Crosse. In 1888, Oyen joined Louis Nelson to form Nelson & Oyen, an interior design firm. In 1890, the men decided to dissolve the firm and go their separate ways. A year later, Oyen started his own interior design firm and hired his father and brother as painters.

In 1903, Soderberg joined Odin Oyen’s decorating firm in La Crosse. Oyen enticed Soderberg from a job opportunity at a competing decorating firm in Clinton, Iowa. Soderberg is described as the most significant artisan of Oyen. Together Oyen and Soderberg were a phenomenal team. Both men were immigrants, and part of their success and teamwork may have been because they had similar artistic techniques and wanted to succeed in their new homes.

Oyen’s firm specialized in murals and interior designs in buildings, such as churches, banks, hotels, clubs, hospitals, libraries, courthouses, schools, theaters and breweries.

The La Crosse County Court House, which opened in 1904, was decorated by Oyen and Soderberg. The murals on the inside of the dome, the grand staircase and the circuit courtroom were primarily the work of Soderberg.

Soderberg worked with Oyen until his death in 1922. Shortly after, in 1926, Oyen died, and his business was carried on by Louis Nelson and Oyen’s son Leighton. The firm dissolved in 1931 during the Great Depression, when the number of business contracts declined. Part of this decline was due to stylistic changes with which the firm could not keep up.

This painting by E. Soderberg shows the teamwork between Soderberg and Oyen. There is a small blue sticker on the back from Oyen’s Art Store at 114 S. Fourth St. It is a mix of gouache and watercolors, and it depicts pioneers on their journey westward in covered wagons. More than likely it was a study for a large mural commissioned for a public building.

Oyen and Soderberg’s work can still be viewed in various institutions across the Midwest.

This painting represents a partnership between two immigrants who created art in numerous buildings. It was intended to recognize pioneers and western expansion, but more importantly for us, it also tells the story of two Scandinavian artists who together built their careers and homes in the young city of La Crosse. For this, it is treasured in the La Crosse County Historical Society’s collections.

This article was originally published in the La Crosse Tribune on March 18, 2017.

This object can be viewed in our online collections database by clicking here.

Irish shillelagh

Amy Vach

Catalog Number: 1915.012.01

La Crosse has been home to Irish immigrants since its early days of white settlement.

Copyright La Crosse County Historical Society

In 1854, 16 of the 745 residents of La Crosse were born in Ireland. Today roughly 300,000 residents of Wisconsin claim Irish ancestry. Although the percentage of individuals declaring Irish ancestry has decreased, the presence of Irish heritage in the community has not diminished.

The Shamrock Club of Wisconsin was created in 1960 by people who desired to promote and keep Irish heritage alive. A local chapter — the Greater La Crosse Area Shamrock Club Inc. — was formed in 1973. Since the 1960s, this club has become one of the largest ethnic organizations in Wisconsin.

In La Crosse the organization is responsible for many Irish events, especially the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Irishfest. The club describes itself as an organization stressing the cultural, social and charitable aspects of Irish heritage, and its members encourage everyone to join — you don’t have to be of Irish descent to be a member.

A shillelagh (pronounced shuh-ley-lee) is is a wooden walking stick and club or cudgel, typically made from a stout knotty stick with a large knob at the top. Shillelaghs are typically made of blackthorn. According to legend, King Richard II is credited for referring to the stick as a shillelagh. The name actually referred to the people living in the village of Shillelagh and Shillelagh Forest in Ireland during the 14th century who used the sticks as weapons.

Although shillelaghs have a violent history, today they are used as walking sticks and are seen as a symbol of Irishness.

This shillelagh has been in the La Crosse County Historical Society’s collection for more than 100 years. It was donated in 1915 by Mary H. Parks. This stick is made of knobby wood and has a clover relief carving at the top. Below the clover, a ribbon design is carved into the head of the stick and says “ERIN,” the Gaelic word for Ireland.

This article was originally published in the La Crosse Tribune on March 11, 2017.

This object can be viewed in our online collections database by clicking here.

Bicha Fur Advertising Sign

Robert Mullen

Copyright La Crosse County Historical Society

Catalog Number: 1984.026.11

Fur is one of the oldest materials people have used for clothing. It was worn by prehistoric humans, and it continues to be used today. Furs have been worn as a necessity for warmth, for decoration and for the glamour has provided in some eras.

The first Europeans living in the upper Mississippi River valley came to trap and hunt the abundance of fur-bearing animals living there, supplying the voracious European appetite for fur during the 18th and 19th centuries. By the 1840s, the early settlers in La Crosse traded for furs from native and European trappers.

A modern form of the fur trade continues today, though the fur business has become a controversial subject.

La Crosse was home to several retail furriers over the years, the most recent being Bicha Furs, at 113 N. Third Street. Joseph Bicha joined the long-established Charles Sharna fur shop in 1915. Bicha had previously learned the craft of making fur clothing from furs as an apprentice, probably working with Sharna. By 1922, Bicha had his own shop, making and selling coats, shawls, wraps and hats for many years in his downtown location.

The mechanical sign shown here was used in Joseph Bicha’s fur shop as advertising for the proprietor’s custom-made coats. It is a black-and-gold metal box painted in the art moderne style of the 1930s and 1940s. It has a glass pane across the front and houses a small electric motor that turns a continuous hand-lettered streamer: “We specialize in custom made coats. A fur coat is the most becoming garment for any woman if designed to fit her type and personality.”

This early use of electrical advertising likely hung in the store’s window to attract potential customers.

Joseph Bicha’s son Edward began working in the store by 1950, and he was named manager in 1958. Edward continued the business until 1984, when he retired. By then, he advertised both fur and cloth coats for sale. Edward Bicha was the last retail furrier in the city.

This article was originally published in the La Crosse Tribune on March 4, 2017.

This object can be viewed in our online collections database by clicking here.