AUGUST JANSSON (1851-1915). View of Åsele and Ångerman River. Oil on canvas, 77 x 147 cm. Signed Aug. Jansson and dated -98.

In the foreground a summer meadow and road leading down to Ångermanälven and Åsele ferry camp where a woman and a girl are waiting for the ferry. On the other side of the river, Åsele with Länsmansgården on the right in the picture followed by Tingshuset and Ångsågen on the left. In the background Rödberget with Åsele church.

August Jansson, born 1851 in Västerås and died 1915 in Örnsköldsvik was a Swedish painter and drawing teacher. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm during the years 1873—1878, and after his studies worked as a drawing teacher in Visby in the 1880s. He settled in Örnsköldsvik in 1891 where he worked as an artist full-time. During his student years he mainly painted portraits and landscape depictions but after moving to Örnsköldsvik he mainly painted subjects from the Örnsköldsvik archipelago and Norrlandsfjällen. A memorial exhibition featuring his art was shown in Örnsköldsvik in 1934.

Åsele Church was built between the years 1847-1852. It was the third church built on the site and was a large three-nave basilica in stone and plastered façade which was very unusual in the northern Norrland wooden building area and, if nothing else, a peculiarity in the patch of land. According to tradition, the then newly built cathedral in Härnösand was taken as a model. It was a very precious building for its time but it had high symbolic value as it was located on the top of the Red Mountain visible far away. The church was heavily damaged by fire in 1934 and a similar church was erected.

Länsmansgården still exists and was originally erected in the 1860s. The building has a mansion-like character and shows kinship with burgher houses in 19th century Norse towns. Länsmansgården in Åsele is a rare preserved example of a Lapland civil servant's post and is today protected as a building monument. The courthouse was built about 1860.