Roland Svensson (18January 191031July 2003), was a Swedish painter, writer,

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

artist, illustrator of books and originals for stamps. He is most noted for his depiction of the

Stockholm archipelago The Stockholm Archipelago () is the largest archipelago in Sweden, and the second-largest archipelago in the Baltic Sea (the largest being the Archipelago Sea across the Baltic in Finland). Part of the archipelago has been designated as a Rams ...

. He also wrote several books.

Biography

Svensson sought out his motifs among the islets and skerries around the summer cottage and

studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...

at Stora Tornö, across the Långvik strait on

Möja Möja is an island in the Stockholm archipelago in Sweden. Möja is one of the most popular islands in the archipelago for travelers and boaters, and is also fairly large. Möja is frequented by the ferries of Waxholmsbolaget and other companies, ...

in the Stockholm archipelago. He also wrote books describing the seasonal changes in the archipelago with deep and vivid animation. His style was forceful and impressionistic but not without a strong feeling for decorative elements. He preferred to draw with coal. His views on Swedish nature and Swedish characteristics is close to that of Karl Nordström and

Albert Engström Albert Engström (1869–1940) was a Swedish artist, author and member of the Swedish Academy from 1922.:sv:Albert Engström, Albert Engström. ''sv.wikipedia.org''. Retrieved: 27 June 2013. Career Engström was born in Lönneberga, Kalmar Cou ...

. He became much noted through his color

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...

's. In two books by Sven Barthel, Svensson contributed with black and white illustrations as well as water colors and

pastel A pastel () is an art medium that consists of powdered pigment and a binder (material), binder. It can exist in a variety of forms, including a stick, a square, a pebble, and a pan of color, among other forms. The pigments used in pastels are ...

drawings. These books are deemed very Swedish with their harsh simplicity and the true love for nature expressed in them. The books are considered very beautiful and have been called classics in both the literary and artistic sense. In 1957 and 1958 Svensson participated, as an artist, in arctic expeditions to

Spitsbergen Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipel ...

and

North Cape, Norway The North Cape (; ) is a cape on the northern coast of the island of Magerøya in Northern Norway. The cape is in Nordkapp Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The European route E69 motorway (highway) has its northern terminus at the No ...

aboard the ship . Roland Svensson was married to Ingrid and they had two children, Lif (Marriott) and Torbjörn. In 1957, Svensson and his family moved to Villa Wallbeck–Hansen at Storängen,

Nacka Nacka () is the municipal seat of Nacka Municipality and part of Stockholm urban area in Sweden. The municipality's name harks back to a 16th-century industrial operation established by the Crown at Nacka farmstead where conditions for water mi ...

in Sweden, and it also became Svensson's main studio. This house in the

National Romantic style The National Romantic style was a Nordic architectural style that was part of the National Romantic movement during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is often considered to be a form of Art Nouveau. The National Romantic style spread ...

once belonged to artist Anton Genberg. Svensson spent much time on the Isle of Canna in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland where he was a close friend of folklorists

John Lorne Campbell John Lorne Campbell FRSE LLD OBE () (1 October 1906 – 25 April 1996) was a Scotland, Scottish historian, farmer, environmentalist and folklorist, and recognized literary scholar, scholar of both Celtic studies and Scottish Gaelic literature. Al ...

an
Margaret Fay Shaw
He did many drawings and paintings on both Canna and South Uist Roland Svensson is buried at Möja church cemetery.

Illustrated publications

For other writers

Evert Taube Axel Evert Taube (; 12 March 1890 – 31 January 1976) was a Swedish author, artist, composer and singer. He is widely regarded as one of Sweden's most respected musicians and the foremost troubadour of the Swedish ballad tradition in the 20th c ...

, ''Sjösalaboken'' ("The book about Sjösala"), 1942. * Sven Barthel, ''Cykloncentrum'' ("Center of the cyclone"), 1940. * Sven Barthel, ''Gillöga'' ("Gillöga island"), 1945. * Sven Barthel, ''Skärgård'' ("Archipelago"), Stockholm: Bonniers, 1952. * Iwan Fischerström, ''Roland Svensson'', FIB's art club, 1960. * Sven Barthel, ''Strandhugg'' ("Forays along beaches"), Max Ström, 2000.

Own works

* ''Ensliga öar'' ("Solitary islands"), R&S, 1954. * ''Hav och människor'' ("Sea and humans"), R&S, 1957, extended edition Vingförlaget, 1950. * ''Skärgårdsliv i gången tid'' ("Life in the archipelago in the old days"), Stockholm: Bonniers, 1961. * ''Min skärgård och din'' ("My archipelago and yours"), Bonniers, 1964. * ''Ur skissböckerna'' ("From the sketch books"), Piccolo/LT, 1969. * ''Från havet: dagboksanteckningar från en resa ombord i T/T Sea Serpent'' ("From the sea, diary notes from a journey aboard the T/T Sea Serpent"), Bonniers, 1972. * ''Bilder och minnen'' ("Pictures and memories"), Bonniers, 1981. * ''I Roland Svenssons övärld: ett urval ur hundra dagböcker 1946–1960'' ("In Roland Svensson's world of Islands – a selection from a hundred diaries 1946–1960"), Bonnier Alba, 1995. * He also published illustrated books describing the meeting of land and sea around

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and distant islands such as

Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...

Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

Hebrides The Hebrides ( ; , ; ) are the largest archipelago in the United Kingdom, off the west coast of the Scotland, Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Ou ...

and

Tristan da Cunha Tristan da Cunha (), colloquially Tristan, is a remote group of volcano, volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is one of three constituent parts of the British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascensi ...

Exhibitions

* Roland Svensson ''Skärgård, öar och hav'' ("Archipelago, islands and sea") The Prins Eugen art venue at

Waldemarsudde Prince Eugene's Waldemarsudde () is a museum located on Djurgården in Stockholm, Sweden. It was formerly the home of Prince Eugen (1865-1947), a Swedish prince, painter and art collector. The museum houses Prince Eugen's extensive art col ...

, Stockholm, 18 September 2010 – 16 January 2011, retrospective.

References

External links

* ("Friends of Roland Svensson") – a society founded in March 2003. In Swedish, but with all the graphic prints. * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Svensson, Roland 1910 births 2003 deaths Artists from Stockholm 20th-century Swedish painters 20th-century Swedish illustrators 21st-century Swedish painters 20th-century Swedish male writers 21st-century Swedish male writers 20th-century Swedish lithographers 21st-century Swedish lithographers