As the eldest brother Magnus had a great influnce on the
development of the younger brothers. Already early on he had made it
clear to himself what he desired of the future: his aim was to become
a zoological illustrator. Singlemindedly he set about to make pictures
of all the birds he saw in order to collect material for a bird catalogue.
Wilhelm, who was five years his junior, assisted readily. Because their
native country had no use for zoological illustrators Magnus, and later
also Wilhelm, moved to Sweden. Their careers developed so well that
Wilhelm von Wright
decided to settle in Sweden for the
rest of his life. His occupation as draughtsman for the Science Academy
guaranteed a livelihood, and his assignments consisted not only of
illustrating birds, but also bird eggs, butterflies, fish and molluscs.
An example of Wilhelm's manner of painting, faithful to reality down to
the last detail, is one of his few surviving oil paintings,
Hanging
Wild Ducks
(1851). In the Paris World Fair he would rather
have seen this painting amongst the biological illustrations than in the
art section.
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The Biedermeier Era B.A. Godenhjelm and C.E. Sjöstrand, the First Teachers at the Helsinki Drawing School 
Berndt Abraham Godenhjelm : Omakuva pietarilaisessa työhuoneessa Carl Eneas Sjöstrand : Kullervon surma Kullervo katkoo kapalonsa Robert Wilhelm Ekman : Ilmatar Kreeta Haapasalo soittaa kannelta talonpoikaistuvassa The Collection of the Finnish Art Society and the Idea of a Museum Magnus von Wright : Pulska-alli Sorsia Wilhelm von Wright : Riippuvia sorsia Magnus von Wright : Liljenstrandein talo talvella Annankatu kylmänä talviaamuna Ferdinand von Wright : Huuhkaja iskee jänikseen Ensi yllätys Haminanlahden puutarhassa Taistelevat metsot
