Anna-Eva Bergman (29 May 1909 – 24 July 1987) was a Norwegian

abstract expressionist Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

artist. She was a modernist artist and part of the

School of Paris The School of Paris (, ) refers to the French and émigré artists who worked in Paris in the first half of the 20th century. The School of Paris was not a single art movement or institution, but refers to the importance of Paris as a centre o ...

. Her abstract paintings were often inspired by nature and based on abstracted motifs.

Biography

Bergman was born in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Sweden as the child of a Swedish father and a Norwegian mother. Her parents divorced shortly after her birth, and she moved with her mother to Norway. She attended the

Norwegian National Academy of Fine Arts The Norwegian National Academy of Arts () was a former Norwegian tertiary institution in Oslo, offering studies in the area of fine art. Along with four other academies, it merged to form the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (, KHiO) in 1996. ...

(1926–1928). In 1928, she accompanied her mother to Vienna and became a student at the

Kunstgewerbeschule A Kunstgewerbeschule (English: ''School of Arts and Crafts'' or S''chool of Applied Arts'') was a type of vocational arts school that existed in German-speaking countries from the mid-19th century. The term Werkkunstschule was also used for the ...

. In Paris she met the German abstract expressionist artist

Hans Hartung Hans Hartung (21 September 1904 – 7 December 1989) was a German-French painter, known for his gestural abstract style. He was also a decorated World War II veteran of the Legion d'honneur. Life Hartung was born in Leipzig, Germany, into an ...

(1904–1989). The two were married in 1929, and lived in Paris and in Germany, and later in

Menorca Menorca or Minorca (from , later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Mallorca. Its capital is Maó, situated on the isl ...

. Problems along with Bergman's failing health led to the couple's divorce in 1939. Bergman returned to Norway and was married to factory owner Fridhjof Lange (1895–1988) from 1944 to 1952. She divorced Lange and in 1957 she was remarried to Hartung. The couple settled in

Antibes, France Antibes (, , ; ) is a seaside city in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in Southeastern France. It is located on the French Riviera between Cannes and Nice; its cape, the Cap d'Antibes, along with Cap Ferrat in Saint-Jean-Ca ...

in 1973. She died at

Grasse Grasse (; Provençal dialect, Provençal in classical norm or in Mistralian norm ; traditional ) is the only Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur Re ...

, France. Bergman's first exhibition was at the Autumn Exhibition in Oslo during 1948. She later had exhibitions at Stockholm, Paris, Nuremberg and Hanover. Her work is included in the collection of the

Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (), abbreviated as MNBAQ, is an art museum in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The museum is located in National Battlefields Park and is a complex of four buildings. Three of them were purpose-built for ...

. The Foundation Hartung Bergman (''Fondation Hans Hartung et Anna-Eva Bergman'') at

Antibes Antibes (, , ; ) is a seaside city in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in Southeastern France. It is located on the French Riviera between Cannes and Nice; its cape, the Cap d'Antibes, along with Cap Ferrat in Saint-Jean-Ca ...

maintains a public display of the works of Hans Hartung and Anna-Eva Bergman. In 2023 her work was included in the exhibition '' Action, Gesture, Paint: Women Artists and Global Abstraction 1940-1970'' at the

Whitechapel Gallery The Whitechapel Gallery is a public art gallery in Whitechapel on the north side of Whitechapel High Street, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The original building, designed by Charles Harrison Townsend, opened in 1901 as one of the fi ...

in London.

References

External links

Fondation Hans Hartung et Anna-Eva Bergman website

Anna-Eva Bergman
at AWARE 1909 births 1987 deaths School of Paris Norwegian modern painters Norwegian abstract painters Abstract expressionist artists 20th-century Norwegian painters Norwegian expatriates in France 20th-century Norwegian women painters {{Norway-painter-stub

Biography

See also

References

External links