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Joseph Clark Collection

Bertil Berntsson

1921–2002 · Abstract painting and drawing

Bertil Berntsson (1921–2002) was a Swedish painter who moved from lyrical landscapes and portraits to a pared-back abstraction, often in greyish paintings and drawings on canvas and paper. He is represented at Moderna Museet in Stockholm and Malmö Konstmuseum.

In the collection

About the artist

Sven Bertil Berntsson was born in Värö, in Halland, on 1 January 1921 and died at Råå on 28 April 2002 (Wikipedia (Swedish)). He studied at Valand in Gothenburg in 1939–40 and at Skånska målarskolan in Malmö in 1945–46, and in 1949 he studied under André Lhote in Paris (Wikipedia (Swedish)). He made his debut in Varberg in 1939 and went on to show in Stockholm, Malmö, Helsingborg and Eskilstuna, many times with Konstnärernas Samarbetsorganisation (KSO), in which he was active for many years (Wikipedia (Swedish)).

He began as a lyrical, impressionistic painter of landscapes and portraits and moved gradually towards a stripped-back abstract form, often in greyish paintings and drawings on canvas and paper, sometimes with pieces of board joined into the composition (Wikipedia (Swedish)). One dealer dates the turn to a more structural style to the mid-1950s, becoming more abstract and minimal in the 1960s (Gallery Midlandia). He made public works in Malmö, Helsingborg and Karlskrona, and he is represented at Moderna Museet, Malmö Konstmuseum, Ystads Konstmuseum, Hallands Konstmuseum and Skissernas Museum in Lund, among others (Wikipedia (Swedish)).

Sources

  1. Wikipedia (Swedish): Bertil Berntsson
  2. Gallery Midlandia: 'Abstract Composition' by Bertil Berntsson
  3. Wikidata: Bertil Berntsson (Q5574143)

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