Magnus von Wright was a Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 painter

Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

 and ornithologist.

Born into a wealthy family in Kuopio

Kuopio

Kuopio is a city and a municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia, Finland. A population of makes it the ninth biggest city in the country. The city has a total area of , of which is water and half forest...

, von Wright went to school in Turku

Turku

Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland...

 and afterwards studied art in Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

 under C. J. Fahlgranz and J. F. Julin. At the initiative of a fellow ornithologist, Nils Bonde, he began work on Svenska Foglar (1828-1838), a large illustrated volume on Swedish birds, in which he was aided by his younger brother, Wilhelm von Wright.

Following his return to Finland in 1829, von Wright worked as a cartographer

Cartography

Cartography is the study and practice of making maps. Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.The fundamental problems of traditional cartography are to:*Set the map's...

, taxidermist

Taxidermy

Taxidermy is the act of mounting or reproducing dead animals for display or for other sources of study. Taxidermy can be done on all vertebrate species of animals, including mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians...

 and art instructor. In addition to several paintings of birds, he also made several landscapes and still life

Still life

A still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural or man-made...

s.

It is noteworthy that both of von Wright's younger brothers, Wilhelm (1810-1887) and Ferdinand

Ferdinand von Wright

Ferdinand von Wright was a Finnish painter. He is known especially for his paintings of birds and landscapes, but was also a portrait painter....

(1822-1906) were also accomplished artists famous for their work on nature, especially birds.