Arvid Werner Sundblad, born July 16, 1877 in Uppsala, died May 20, 1909 in Arbrå, Hälsingland, was a Swedish painter, draughtsman and graphic artist.
Sundblad usually painted landscapes. He studied at Tekniska skolan in Uppsala 1893-1895, Tekniska skolan in Stockholm (now Konstfack) 1895-1897 and then at Konstakademien 1897-1901.
He was the son of the pharmacist Adolf Wilhelm Sundblad and Ellida Georgina Kaijser. Sundblad studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm from 1897 to 1902, where he attended both the painting and etching school. After his studies he spent some time in France where he spent time with Ivar Arosenius who painted his portrait in 1904. In 1908 he exhibited a charcoal drawing that he had made of Arosenius during his time in Paris. On his return to Sweden, Sundblad joined the circle of Uppsala artists who, at Håga and other places outside the city, formed a kind of Swedish equivalent to the French painting colonies. In this artistic fraternity, the journal Med pensel och penna (With brush and pencil) was published in 1904, using the German journals Jugend and Simplicissimus as a model, but after just four issues the editorial team had exhausted its powers and the journal was closed down.
The artistic production was of high quality, from the cover and vignettes to the advertisements, which were artistically designed. Besides Sundblad, the editorial team consisted of journalist Erik Ljungberger, art historian Nils Sjöberg and artist Gusten Widerbäck. The first issue of the magazine featured a biography of Widerbäck written by Sundblad in its main article, and he also contributed a few vignettes and drawings in the style of the time. In 1905, together with John Bauer, Arthur Sjögren, Olle Thunman and Gusten Widerbäck, they formed the Konstnärslaget, which held joint exhibitions at Valands in Gothenburg and Stockholm.
Already at a young age, Sundblad became aware of the beauty of Hälsingland's nature and many of his paintings are based on Hälsingland's landscapes and its people. Sundblad was sickly from birth and suffered from poor health and a hunchback that forced him to live a secluded life and for long periods he lived with his sister in Arbrå. Around 1900 his father bought a farm in Arbrå where he built a studio for his son. In addition to exhibitions with Konstnärslaget, he participated in the Art and Industry Exhibition in Norrköping in 1906, exhibitions in Stockholm in 1908 and together with Bror Hillgren at the Hälsingland Convention in Bollnäs in 1909. His art consists of landscape paintings, twilight moods, old farms, dark ridges and water environments. Sundblad is represented at the Hälsingland Museum and Bollnäs Municipality's art collection.