Beata Mårtensson-Brummer (1 April 1880 — 15 July 1956) was a Swedish painter,

ceramist Ceramic art is art made from ceramic materials, including clay. It may take varied forms, including artistic pottery, including tableware, tiles, figurines and other sculpture. As one of the plastic arts, ceramic art is a visual art. While ...

, art teacher and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

. After studying in Stockholm, France and Italy, from 1908 she worked at the

Gustavsberg Porcelain Factory Gustavsberg is a Swedish porcelain company that originated in 1826.Helena Dahlbäck Lutteman. ''Svenskt Porslin 1700-1900'' It broke up in the 1990s and was sold off in pieces, to the dismay of residents of the Gustavsberg area, but artisans con ...

where she designed glazed vases and pottery. She taught painting at the Högre konstindustriella skolan (now

Konstfack Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design, is a university college for higher education in the area of art, crafts and design in Stockholm, Sweden. History Konstfack has had several different names since it was founded in 1844 by the eth ...

) where she was appointed head teacher in 1915. In 1911, she married the Hungarian-born sculptor

Joseph Brummer Joseph Brummer (1883 – 14 April 1947) was a Hungarian-born art dealer and collector who exhibited both antique artifacts from different cultures, early European art, and the works of modern painters and sculptors in his galleries in Paris a ...

. After first helping him to run his gallery in Paris, in 1920 she joined him in New York where he ran the Brummer Gallery in Manhattan until his death in 1947. Mårtensson-Brummer returned to Sweden in 1953. On her death in 1956, she bequeathed considerable amounts of funding to Sweden's cultural institutions.>

Early life, education and family

Born in

Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...

on 1 April 1880, Beata Mårtensson was the daughter of the farmer Nils Mårtensson and his wife Bengta née Nilsdotter, She was the youngest of the family's six children. She studied at Stockholms's arts and crafts college Högre konstindustriella skolan (HKS, now

) graduating in 1902 and undertook study trips to Paris and Italy. In 1911, she married the Hungarian-born sculptor Joseph Brummer at a civil wedding in London.

Career

From 1908 to 1910, Mårtensson-Brummer designed and decorated vases and pottery in stoneware at the Gustavsberg Porcelain Factory where she collaborated closely with Gunnar Gunnarsson Wennerberg. While she followed his approach, she developed her own particular graphic style. On graduating, she was appointed as a painting instructor at Högre konstindustriella skolan until 1911. After a period in Paris where she helped her husband and his brothers with their gallery, she returned to Stockholm in 1915 to take up an appointment as head teacher at HKS which she maintained until 1920. She then joined her husband in New York where she helped him run his gallery in Manhattan. In particular, she arranged many exhibitions of European modern art. When he died in 1947, she moved back to Stockholm. Mårtensson-Brummer was a versatile artist, painting in both oils and watercolours. In addition to decorating ceramics, she made designs for lace and tapestry. She participated in Stockholm's 1909 Art Industry Exhibition and later at the city's

Konstnärshuset Konstnärshuset (literally Artists' House) is a building in central Stockholm, Sweden. It is owned by the Swedish Artists Association (''Svenska konstnärernas förening'') and is used as an art gallery. History Designed by Ludvig Petersen, the bu ...

. Her works are represented in Sweden's National Museum and in the collections of Gustav VI Adoft and Waldemarsudde. Beata Mårtensson-Brummer died in Stockholm on 15 July 1956, leaving a significant fortune to Sweden's cultural institutions as well as many high-quality objets d'art.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martensson-Brummer, Beata 1880 births 1956 deaths People from Lund Swedish ceramists Swedish women ceramists 20th-century Swedish painters 20th-century Swedish women artists 20th-century Swedish educators Konstfack alumni Academic staff of Konstfack Artists from Skåne County