A Life in Skellefteå The vicarage at Skellefteå holds the beginning of Anna Catharina Nordlander’s story. Born in 1843 to Nils Nordlander and Anna Maria Gestrin, she grows up within a well-to-do home where sisters are educated by governesses. The air of northern Sweden carries the influence of Johan Fredrik Höckert, who visits the family parsonage in 1850. This encounter leaves a mark; his depictions of Lappland motifs become a foundation for her own vision. Training begins at Slöjdskolan and moves toward the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts. By 1866, she enters the women’s section of the Academ…